Iran: We all have a responsibility to support Syria

Ahead of NAM summit, Iran intelligence chief Hossein Taeb says "line of resistance must not be broken."

By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFF
Flags of the Non-Aligned Movement members 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi)
Flags of the Non-Aligned Movement members 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi)
Iran has a responsibility to support the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad as it fights an armed uprising, the head of the intelligence unit of Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was quoted as saying on Saturday. The comments come after a report was released stating Iran, Russia and China have planned for the end of Assad's regime.
An Iranian lawmaker said a legislative committee would visit Syria to strengthen bilateral relations and consult Syrian officials, the state news agency IRNA reported.
"We all have a responsibility to support Syria and not allow the line of resistance to be broken," Fars news agency, which claims to be independent but which is widely known to have close ties to Iran's Revolutionary Guards, quoted Hossein Taeb, the intelligence unit head, as saying.
Iran has supported Assad in the face of international condemnation over his crackdown on the uprising against his family's four-decade rule, considering his government part of an anti-Western front that also includes Lebanon's Hezbollah.
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Tehran has also accused Western powers and countries in the region, including Turkey and Qatar, of supporting the rebels in an effort to overthrow Assad.
A parliamentary committee from Iran will visit Syria for two days soon to strengthen bilateral relations and consult the speaker of parliament and other officials, IRNA quoted Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, as saying.
Boroujerdi said the Non-Aligned Movement summit, bringing together 120 developing nations and starting on Sunday in Tehran, offered a good chance to discuss the Syrian crisis.
"This summit is a very good opportunity for member states of this movement to take a decision on the issue in this country...so that the crisis would be solved soon."
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Meanwhile, Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Rai has reported that Islamic Republic of Iran, China and Russia have agreed on a plan for the resignation of Assad on Saturday.
In what is reported as an Al-Rai exclusive, Russia, Iran and China are said to be convinced that the Assad's regime is over. The report proposes that after the regime falls, there will be a transitional phase where the military will play a primary role.
The report, which has not been confirmed by any other source, claims that Assad has agreed to the initial plan, and follows by confirming that he will be given refuge in another country.
However Syrian Minister of Information Umran al-Zuabi denied the report, stating that it is nothing but "dreams of the opposition."