Iran’s Supreme Leader justifies not defending Syria

He criticized the belief that Assad’s regime fell because Iran didn’t send in their army.

Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei defended Iran’s decision not to defend Syria as rebels overthrew the Assad regime.

He criticized the belief that Assad’s regime fell because Iran didn’t send in their army.

The Ayatollah wrote: “It is neither logical nor acceptable to public opinion for the Iranian army to fight on behalf of the Syrian army. The responsibility for defending Syria rests with its own forces. What our military provided was advisory support.”

He continued, “A nation’s army must bear the brunt of the fighting. Voluntary forces like the Basiji can only fight alongside that country’s army. If the local army is weak, the Basiji cannot compensate for it. Unfortunately, this was the situation in Syria.”

He also criticized Israel for its operations in Syria and wrote in Hebrew, “The youth of Syria will be the ones to liberate the territories occupied by the Zionist entity.”

Switching to English, he attacked the West for approving of Israel’s actions.

Assad regimeAyatollahIranian military