A coalition of mainstream Syrian opposition groups gathered in Saudi Arabia to criticise the military presence of the Iranian Regime (and its various proxy groups) in Syria and asked them to leave immediately.
The over 140 people in attendance at the two-day conference in Riyadh also reaffirmed that there is not a place for the Bashar al-Assad dictatorship- which the Iranian Regime is propping up- in an interim period under any UN-sponsored peace arrangement.
Some observers mistakenly believed that the mainstream Syrian opposition groups might soften their position on Assad given his recent military ‘victories’. Instead, they demanded that Assad and his allies leave Syria at the start of any peace process.
Iran’s malign influence in the Middle East
The Syrian opposition also said in their statement that Iranian-backed militias have a clear history of spreading “terrorism and sectarian strife” between Sunni and Shiite Muslims across the Middle East.
Ahmed Ramazan, a spokesman for the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, previously called on Arab states to unite against Iranian interference in the region and their terrorist activities.
He said: “We should prevent Iran from exploiting the differences between the Arabs…Since the beginning of the crisis [in Syria], the opposition has been calling on the Arab League to take action against the interventions of Tehran and its push to create a sectarian conflict in the region.”
Indeed, Iran uses proxy groups to destabilise the countries around it as part of its grand scheme for control of the Middle East and the establishment of a Shiite Crescent.
The idea is that by creating land bridges between Iranian strongholds, the Regime can more easily traffic arms, money and fighters to terrorist groups and thereby destabilise more of the world and take over more of the world.
They already control large swathes of Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon through the proxies of Hezbollah, the Houthis, and the Popular Mobilisation Units.
The Syrian opposition forces stated that it would elect a body on Friday, November 24, to represent in UN-sponsored peace talks and other possible moves.
The Syrian opposition forces gave little criticism of Russia- who is also propping up the Assad dictatorship- by comparison. Perhaps because- unlike Iran- Russia has already stated its commitment to the peace process and intentions to leave.
Russian General Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of General Staff, said that the Russian military would commence a major pull-out of Syria “when we complete our tasks, military tasks”.
He continued: “We will leave the Center for Reconciliation, our two military bases (in Tartus and Hmeimim) and several necessary structures to maintain the state which has developed at this time.”
Source » ncr-iran