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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Bashar al-Assad flips out at Ahmadinejad |
| 2007-03-08 |
| Syrian President Bashar al-Assad went ballistic on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a phone conversation, the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyassah reported on Wednesday. Sources close to the Syrian leader told the newspaper that Assad had called the Iranian president to discuss AhmadinejadÂ’s meeting with Saudi ArabiaÂ’s King Abdullah in Riyadh. However, the conversation reportedly turned ugly when Ahmadinejad voiced support for the establishment of an international tribunal to investigate the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri - a sensitive subject for Syria, which has been suspected of involvement in the Lebanese leaderÂ’s death. The report said that Assad burst into an angry tirade and even cursed the Iranians at the end of the conversation. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 Baker Hamilton said talk to both Syria AND Iran for a grand bargain, which is BS. You want to turn ONE of them, against the other. Question is, which? KSA, which is still seething over the Hariri boom, which wants quiet in its eastern prov (which Iran can offer) and which wants to run Leb, and which doesnt care so much about Hamas(which they also support against Israel), is looking for a grand bargain with Iran, and wants Iran to turn against Syria. Some Israelis, OTOH, be less concerned about Hariri, and more concerned about Irans goals, including Israels destruction, and realizing that Golan is negotiable, and that peace with Syria would make conventional war against Israel almost impossible (freeing resources for strategic war) have considered the possibility of turning Syria. These two competing attempts, however, actually reinforce each other, by increasing distrust between Teheran and Damascus. Israel has been saying for a while that they are not talking to Syria mainly out of deference to the US. This serves to remind the Iranians that Baby Assad cant be trusted. Which in turn tempts Iran to make a deal with KSA at Syrias expense. Which in turn reminds Assad that Iran cant be trusted, and adds more incentive to cut a deal with the Israelis. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2007-03-08 11:24 |
| #2 here is a thought: maybe Ahmadinejad believed baby Assad when the latter said he wasn't involved in the Hariri assassination and then when Ahmadinejad went to Abdullah, the latter convinced the former that since Assad wasn't involved there was no reason to stop the Hariri investigation. |
| Posted by: mhw 2007-03-08 07:53 |
| #1 No more money, eh? |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2007-03-08 06:30 |