Special to WorldTribune.com

Monday, August 1, 2011

NICOSIA — Iran, stressing its strategic interests, has warned Turkey to end intervention in Syria.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has issued a harsh warning to Turkey to end activities in Syria. In an article in IRGC’s weekly Sobh’eh Sadegh, the elite military force asserted that Turkish forces were crossing into Syria as part of a Western campaign to destabilize the regime of President Bashar Assad.

“They entered through the Turkish border with Syria,” the article, authored by R. Grumabdri, said.

[On July 31, up to 150 Syrians were said to have been killed in an army assault on the northern city of Hama, Middle East Newsline reported. Western diplomats said the Assad regime wanted to crush the revolt in Hama, a leading stronghold of the Muslim Brotherhood, before the onset of Ramadan.]

The article published in July, titled “Iran’s Serious Stance in the Face of Syrian Events” and said to reflect IRGC thinking, warned that Syria would remain a strategic asset of Iran. IRGC said Ankara was playing a double game, pretending to support democratic change while working to undermine Syria.

IRGC said Turkey was trying to exploit the revolt in Syria to press on long-held border claims. The author warned that Iran would stand with Syria against any Turkish intervention.

“The whole world is aware of Iran’s relationship with Syria and Iran should not keep this hidden,” the article said. “Should Turkish officials insist on their contradictory behavior and if they continue on their current path, serious issues are sure to follow. We will be put in the position of having to choose between Turkey and Syria. Syria’s justification in defending herself along with mirroring ideological perceptions would sway Iran toward choosing Syria.”

The article was published after Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei relayed a warning to President Barack Obama against U.S. intervention in Syria.

Teheran has also warned Turkey against helping Washington in a NATO-led missile defense umbrella aimed to stop Iranian attacks on Europe. Khamenei raised the prospect that Turkey could be a target of Iran’s huge missile arsenal.

“From Iran’s standpoint, the Syrian leadership is in the midst of resolving its problems, and as soon as foreign meddling stops, the Syrians will be able to revert back to normal,” the IRGC article said.

  Ali Khamenei, Barack Obama, Bashar Assad, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Muslim Brotherhood, TOP 2011 STORIES: Iran issues tough warning to Turkey on Syria