Syrian President Bashar Assad on Thursday defied US calls to loosen ties with Iran, saying his long-standing alliance with Tehran remains strong despite overtures from Washington intended to shift his loyalties.
The US has reached out to Syria in recent months by nominating the first US ambassador to Damascus since 2005 and sending top diplomats to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad. Washington is hoping to draw Syria away from Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas.
But with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by his side in Damascus, Assad said on Thursday that the US should not dictate relationships in the Middle East.
“I find it strange how they talk about Middle East stability and at the same time talk about dividing two countries,” Assad told reporters when asked about US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s call on Wednesday for Syria to move away from Iran.
Assad took a swipe at Clinton for making such a suggestion, saying he and Ahmadinejad “misunderstood, maybe because of translation error or limited understanding.”
In a show of unity, the two signed an agreement canceling the need for travel visas between the their countries.
US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley, speaking to reporters in Washington on Thursday, said Assad “need only look around the region and recognize that Syria is increasingly an outlier.”
“We want to see Syria play a more constructive role in the region and one step would be to make clear what Iran needs to do differently. And unfortunately, there was no evidence of that today,” he said.
Assad’s strong words indicate that US does not have the kind of leverage it thought over Syria, said Joshua Landis, a Syria expert who runs a popular blog called Syria Comment.
“America overplayed its hand,” Landis said. “The rest of the world is engaged with Syria — France is doing business, Turkey is doing business. Syria can survive. But it can’t survive cutting ties with Iran.”
Still, there are signs Assad could be open to a breakthrough with the US. He has begun to dismantle his father’s socialist legacy since he rose to office in 2000. He has loosened the reins on banking, sought to attract foreign investment, and encouraged tourism and private education.
He also is hoping for US help in boosting the Syrian economy and US mediation in direct peace talks with Israel. However, Clinton said on Wednesday that the recent decision to send an ambassador to Syria did not mean concerns about the country have been addressed.
She told lawmakers in Washington that the nomination of career diplomat Robert Ford signaled a “slight opening” with Syria. But she said Washington remained troubled by suspected Syrian support for militant groups in Iraq and elsewhere, interference in Lebanon and Syria’s close relationship with Iran.
Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, said Syria and Iran are partners with a long history.
“There is nothing that could harm these brotherly relations,” he said. “With each passing day, these relations will improve and deepen.”
In related news, the head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement traveled to Damascus for talks with allies Syria and Iran, the SANA news agency said yesterday.
Hassan Nasrallah attended a dinner banquet that Assad hosted for Ahmadinejad on Thursday, the agency said.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV in Lebanon reported that Nasrallah and Ahmadinejad met to discuss “the latest developments in the region.”
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