Iran will support Syria against ‘US-Israel plot’; True Promise III ‘definite’: Fmr. IRGC chief

A former chief commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says the United States and the Israeli regime provoked Takfiri terrorists into invading and occupying the Syrian city of Aleppo to expand the war from Lebanon and Gaza into Syria.

Major General Mohsen Rezaei, who is currently a member of Iran’s Expediency Council, made the remarks in a live interview with Al Jazeera news network on Sunday.

He said Wednesday’s surprise assault on Aleppo by foreign-backed terrorists was “a major political mistake” that violated the 2020 ceasefire deal between the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Takfiri militants.

“We consider the occupation of Aleppo the result of provocation by Israel and the United States, especially at a time when Israel has been doing its best to destabilize the region over the past year through its military campaign and bombing of Gaza and Lebanon, as well as repeated airstrikes on Syria,” he added.

“This action is an extension of the war on Lebanon and Gaza to Syria, and [thus] we support Syria, and its government and army.”

In Damascus, Araghchi vows Iran’s full-fledged support for Syria in anti-terror fight

The Iranian foreign minister says Tehran will continue to provide full support to Syria in the fight against terrorism and the Israeli regime.

Iran was the first country to rush to Syria’s aid following the 2011 outbreak of foreign-sponsored violence there.

In 2017, Syrian forces, backed by Iran and Russia, scored a monumental victory over the Daesh terrorist group.

However, the country’s northern parts remained under control of militants and foreign occupation forces.

Terror outfits, led by the Hay’at Tahrir al-Shams (HTS), waged their largest attack in Syria in years on Wednesday, took control of parts of Aleppo, and advanced southward toward the city of Hama.

‘A unified Muslim army’

Also in his remarks, Rezaei urged all Muslim countries to unite and form a joint army to counter the US and Israel, which have repeatedly launched acts of aggression against Syria, warning that the pair are seeking to implement the same scenario in Iraq, the occupied West Bank, and Jordan.

“Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, and Iran, are today standing against them (the US and Israel), and the six countries must defeat the pair as was the case in Lebanon,” he noted.

“Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran is the main supporter ... of all Muslim states against the US and Israel.”

The former IRGC commander further referred to last week’s truce deal between the occupying regime and Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement that ended more than 14 months of fighting.

“By accepting the ceasefire, Israel showed that it was completely incapable of conducting a ground battle,” he stated.

Israel, Rezaei emphasized, has today become the most hated regime in history, while Palestine’s rightfulness has been proven to the world.

When asked if Iran would reconsider its planned anti-Israel Operation True Promise III in particular after Lebanon’s ceasefire and the election of US President Donald Trump, Rezaei asserted that, “We will penalize the Israeli regime in place and time we deem appropriate, and this retaliatory operation is definite.”

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