'West Seeks to Break Resistance Chain by Targeting Syria'

Large demonstrations in support of the Syrian government of President Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus, the capital, on March 29, 2011. The president addressed parliament on March 30 and denounced the foreign plot against the country., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

‘West seeks to break resistance chain by targeting Syria’

Tue Sep 4, 2012 1:58PM GMT
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Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

A top Iranian official says Israel and the West have concerted efforts to undermine the resistance movement in the Middle East by targeting Syria and financing the Syrian insurgents.

“A resistance chain comprising Iraq, Iran, Syria and Palestine has been formed against the hegemony of the Zionist regime [of Israel] and the US, and they seek to break this chain,” Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said on Tuesday.

“The Western countries are looking for a substitute at the heart of the Middle East and therefore they have targeted Syria,” Velayati added.

Describing Damascus as “the golden ring of the resistance chain,” the Iranian official said, “The Western countries do not intend to establish a liberal government or democracy in Syria, but they want to break the resistance chain.”

Velayati argued that the West and Israel have been funding the minority insurgent groups in Syria to help them to fight against the Syrian government.

The Leader’s advisor noted that safeguarding the chain of [anti-Israeli] resistance is of strategic importance to the Islamic Republic.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Damascus says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving force behind the unrest and deadly violence while the opposition accuses the security forces of being behind the killings.

The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the armed militants are foreign nationals.