Zahrani continued, “We were optimistic that the war in Syria would be short and that the enemy was weak and we could end the battle quickly. The majority of the countries that intervened in Syria were optimistic too and did not plan for an exit strategy, including Iran and Turkey,” said the head of strategic affairs at the Institute for Political and International Studies of the Iranian Foreign Ministry. Russia, on the other hand, has an exit strategy, because its role was limited to air cover unlike us.”
He explained that Iran is a security threat to the region because of its nuclear activities, but after the nuclear agreement reached, Iran’s involvement in the region, especially in Syria, Iraq and Yemen became worrisome.
“Even if Hillary Clinton was president, the United States would have gone in the direction of labeling Iran as a security threat to the region, but the election of Donald Trump made things move a lot faster,” he stated.
Bahraini said that Tehran resolve the Syrian crisis before it is too late. He added that Russia has reached its goals in Syria and will enter into deals with the United States and even Israel on the Syrian issue.
The importance of his statements is underlined by the fact that this is the first time that an official in the Iranian Foreign Ministry has revealed the problems facing his country in the Syrian crisis, as well as the relationship between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his allies, the Russians and the Iranians, both of whom have spared no effort in helping the Syrian leader to stay in power.
