The chief advisor to Iran regime’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, threatened to “clear” areas in Syria, during a visit to Aleppo, on Wednesday November 8.
According to Iranian state-run Mehr news agency, Ali Akbar Velayati told Iranian-backed militias: “Soon we will see eastern Syria cleared, and then the Idlib area in the west.”
The area that Velayati is alluding to include the city of Raqqa, which was liberated from ISIS by the US Coalition -backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) earlier this year, and the city of Idlib which is ruled by a “de-escalation” settlement controlled by the Turkish military under an agreement between Russia and the Iranian Regime.
ISIS
Meanwhile, Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, also backed by Iran) began their attacks on Bukamal city, the last stronghold of ISIS in Syria, on Wednesday. They reached the suburbs, while other Regime forces waited 15 kilometres away from the city.
Director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Rami Abdel-Rahman told Asharq Al-Awsat that he was surprised by reports from Hezbollah of where most of the Iranian-backed forces are fighting.
He said: “ISIS still controls the western and northern parts of the city, while fierce battles are still taking place at the southern and eastern sides.”
He noted that a large amount of PMF fighters had arrived at the entrances of the south-eastern part of the city, after having joined Syrian regime forces at the border a few days ago.
Iran’s real goal in the Middle East
The Iranian Regime has supported Bashar Assad in the Syrian Civil War and fought ISIS in the Middle East in order to take control of land and create a Shiite Crescent stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean; something the New Yorker reveals that Iran has sought since 1988.
Iran is not really looking to target ISIS; only to expand their influence over the Middle East; this can be clearly seen by their decisions on where to fight, as in Bukamal, Raqqa, Deir Azzour and Idlib.
The Shiite Crescent would create a land bridge across Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, and make it easier for Iran to transport weapons, money, and fighters to terrorist groups like Hezbollah and the Houthis across the Middle East.
Shoshana Bryen, Senior Director of the Jewish Policy Cente, wrote on The Gatestone Institute: “If Iran is allowed to solidify its Shiite Crescent and its naval obstructionism, American allies across the Middle East and North Africa will pay a heavy price.”
Source » ncr-iran