A
Syrian woman cries as she carries her son who was shot by Syrian forces while
crossing a river into Lebanon on Wednesday.
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Photo credit: AP 
This
image, taken from an amateur video released by the Shaam News Network, shows
bodies of Syrian citizens apparently killed during attacks by Syrian forces.
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Photo credit: AP 
Iranian
Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says U.S. military leaders do not understand
regional issues and that Syria is not the same as Libya. [Archive]
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Photo credit: AP 
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A
Syrian woman cries as she carries her son who was shot by Syrian forces while
crossing a river into Lebanon on Wednesday.
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Photo credit: A |
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Western military intervention in war-torn Syria would
result in a regional crisis that "engulfs the Zionist regime," Iranian
Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said on Wednesday, in an explicit threat to
Israel.
Laranjani, a close adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made the remarks in a speech during a session of
parliament on Wednesday, in response to calls from some Western officials for
action in Syria to stop the bloodshed in the more than year-long popular
uprising.
“U.S. military officials have a poor understanding of
themselves and of regional issues because Syria is in no way similar to Libya,"
Larijani said. The effects of "creating another Benghazi in Syria would spread
to Palestine, and ash rising from the flames would engulf the Zionist regime.”
He accused the U.S. and the West of "seeking to pave the
way for a new crisis."
“The Majlis [parliament] supports democratic reforms in
Syria that will help uphold the people’s rights, condemns terrorist actions and
opportunistic interference by certain countries in Syria," he said, according to
the Tehran Times. Referring to military intervention, he warned the U.S. that
"it may seem easy to embark on such an act of adventurism, but it will
definitely be difficult to end it."
An Israeli government official responded to Laranjani's
remarks on Thursday, accusing Iran of trying to control the Middle East, while
supporting mass murder in Syria. "One can only imagine what would happen if Iran
possessed nuclear weapons," the official said, according to Israel Radio.
Laranjani also mentioned the international condemnation of
Syria's human rights abuses, which he said impedes progress in solving the
country's problems. His remarks were apparently a response to French President
Francois Hollande's threat to use military force against Assad and the regime in
Syria following the massacre in Houla that took place last weekend. That attack
left at least 116 people dead — a third of whom were said to be children — and
wounded at least 300 others. Hollande said France would resort to military force
if the U.N. Security Council approved the move.
Meanwhile, OC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Yair Golan said
on Wednesday that the IDF is preparing for a scenario in which al-Qaida
terrorists could use Syrian territory as a base from which to launch attacks
against Israel.
Speaking at a conference marking the 30th anniversary of
the First Lebanon War at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at
Bar-Ilan University, Golan said events in Syria could leave parts of the country
vulnerable. According to Golan, terrorist groups like al-Qaida could exploit the
situation and launch attacks against Israel from across the Syrian border.
Golan said Syria was heading for collapse and would become
a "warehouse of weapons" for Islamist militants as it descended into chaos.
"Syria is in civil war, which will lead to a failed state,
and terrorism will blossom in it," he said. "Syria has a big arsenal."
The Arab republic's stock of mainly Russian-made weapons
includes surface-to-air missiles, surface-to-surface missiles and marine
missiles. It also possesses chemical weapons, which Syria never used in its wars
against Israel but that could be attractive weapons for militants, the general
said.
"The risk to Israel is taking shape," said Golan. "The
challenge we are facing is a huge one."
Golan said the IDF was "deeply engaged in getting ready,
with plans and physical means" along the borders. He did not offer details.
It was very difficult to forecast how Syria would break
up, Golan said. It could be effectively "cantonized" by the conflict that has
raged for 14 months since President Bashar al-Assad turned his army on
protesters.
Golan said Assad's ally Iran was trying hard to help the
president stay in power, and Iran's Lebanese ally, the Shiite terrorist group
Hezbollah, was a very determined enemy of Israel and had "no intention of
letting us off easily."
Hezbollah "feels obligated to their guardian [Iran] and
when needed it is going to do what Iran is interested in," he said.
If Hezbollah were to attack, however, it could expect
massive retaliation which would not be limited to Israeli air power, Golan said.
Reliance on air power alone was "a hallucination."
In the event of a third Lebanon war, Golan said, the IDF
would aim to "set back the next threat for a long time by hitting them
[Hezbollah] very hard so they won't feel like engaging us again for many, many
years."
In February, al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who became
head of the organization after Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in
Pakistan last May, said in a video recording that Syrians should not rely on the
West or Arab governments to topple Assad.
In the eight-minute video, entitled “Onwards, Lions of
Syria” and posted on an Islamist website, the Egyptian-born Zawahiri also urged
Muslims in Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan to come to the aid of Syrian rebels
confronting Assad’s forces.
Assad's regime has long blamed terrorists for the revolt,
and al-Qaida’s endorsement of the opposition created difficulties for Western
and Arab states trying to figure out a way to help force Assad out of power.
Meanwhile, activists said Syrian troops were shelling the
central Houla area where more than 100 people were massacred last week. The
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination
Committees activist groups say Thursday's shelling of Houla was mostly by heavy
machine guns.
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