NCRI – In an interview with Al-Arabiya, former Syrian prime minister Riad Hijab, said that “Syria is occupied by the Iranian regime. The person who runs the country is not Bashar al-Assad but Qassem Suleimani, the head of Iranian regime’s Quds Force.”
Riad Hijab, who defected from his post in Damascus six months ago, made the remarks in an interview with Arabic-language news outlet Al-Arabiya on Friday.
Meanwhile mullah Mehdi Taeb, among Khamenei’s inner circle and the head of the so-called “Ammar Headquarters”, admitted that the clerical regime’s sheer existence depends on the Syrian dictatorship.
“Syria is the 35th province and a strategic province for us. If the enemy attacks us and seeks to take over Syria or (Iran’s) Khuzestan, the priority lies in maintaining Syria because if we maintain Syria, we can take back Khuzestan. However, if we lose Syria, we won’t be able to hold Tehran,” said Mullah Taeb on February 14th in a gathering of university Bassij units.
