Agence France-Presse ? Getty Images
Presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, left, and Bashar al-Assad of Syria, center, in Tehran in 2007. Their alliance has been strained by the Arab Spring.
For years, posters celebrating the decades-old alliance joining Syria and Iran festooned the streets and automobiles of the Syrian capital ? the images of Presidents Bashar al-Assad and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad embroidered with roses and daffodils.
But that alliance is now strained, and on Thursday, President Ahmadinejad of Iran became the most recent, and perhaps the most unexpected, world leader to call for President Assad to end his violent crackdown of an uprising challenging his authoritarian rule in Syria.
When the Arab Spring broke out, upending the regional order, Iran seemed to emerge a winner: its regional adversary, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, was ousted from power and its most important ally, Syria, was emboldened.
But the popular demands for change swept into Syria, and now, as Mr. Assad?s forces continue to shoot unarmed demonstrators, Iran sees its fortunes fading on two fronts: its image as a guardian of Arab resistance has been battered, and its most important regional strategic ally is in danger of being ousted.
Even while it has been accused of providing financial and material support for Mr. Assad?s crackdown, Iran has increased calls for Syria to end the violence and reform its political process, a formula Tehran apparently hopes will repair its image and, if heeded, possibly bolster Mr. Assad?s standing.
?Regional nations can assist the Syrian people and government in the implementation of essential reforms and the resolution of their problems,? Mr. Ahmadinejad said in an interview in Tehran, according to his official Web site. Other press accounts of the interview with a Portuguese television station quoted him as also saying, ?A military solution is never the right solution,? an ironic assessment from a man whose own questionable re-election in 2009 prompted huge street demonstrations that were put down with decisive force.
The collapse of the Assad government would be a strategic blow to Shiite-majority Iran, cutting off its most important bridge to the Arab world while empowering its main regional rivals, Saudi Arabia and its increasingly influential competitor, Turkey, both Sunni-majority nations. Iran would also lose its main arms pipeline to Hezbollah in Lebanon, further undermining its ambition to be the primary regional power from the Levant to Pakistan.
Not long ago, Iran and its Arab allies like Hezbollah?s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, were seen as folk heroes to many Arabs for their confrontational stance toward the United States and Israel.
But Iran has suddenly found itself on the wrong side of the barricades.
?Assad?s heroic image of resistance is being watered down,? said Vali Nasr, a professor at Tufts University and the author of ?The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape the Future.? ?That?s the problem for Iran and for Hezbollah. They are trying to find out how to have their cake and eat it, too.?
Demonstrators clogging the streets from Tunisia to Egypt to Syria are demanding freedom and democracy, forcing Iran to openly struggle with the problem of how to endorse the revolutionary spirit while simultaneously buttressing its crucial strategic Arab ally.
?They don?t fit into the framework of toppling dictators and democracy and all that,? said Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center in Lebanon.
Yet many analysts say that the Iranians have tried to play both sides of the barricades, supporting their allies in Syria with all manner of aid while simultaneously voicing support for the revolutions elsewhere, initially calling them the offspring of their own 1979 revolution.
?It is mostly for the Arab gallery, rather than a tangible policy shift,? said Cengiz Candar, a prominent Turkish columnist. ?In terms of the Syrian opposition, there is nobody Iran can stand on in case the regime is replaced.?
Iran has been helping Syria with everything from money to advice on controlling the Internet, analysts say, offering its expertise to help stave off the catastrophe that Mr. Assad?s collapse would be for Tehran?s regional ambitions. Aside from propping up Syria with billions of dollars, it has pressed others, including Iraq, to support Mr. Assad.
Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=b29271aad0941ea9a735aeae5d1ad05d
cnn world news videos cnn world news&local current world news 2011 current world news for kids daily world news bbc
No comments:
Post a Comment