Madina Newspaper IRAN is one of the major participants in the political game being played over Syria. It is no coincidence that the Syrian crisis started at the same time as the latest controversy over the Iranian nuclear program. There is a close relationship between what is going on in Syria and in Iran. Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad knows the situation and bets on it. So does Iran, which is trying to make its presence felt in the Middle East. Iran's ambition of hegemony was recently manifested when its warships visited Syrian seaports in the Mediterranean. Iran holds on to its nuclear dreams and wants to participate in redrawing the political landscape of the region. The Syrian regime, on the other hand, is holding on to survive and is struggling to stay in power. Israel wants to destroy the Iranian nuclear facilities but Benjamin Netanyahu is constrained as any attack might preempt plans to overthrow the Syrian regime. Finding a compromise solution to the Syrian crisis is complicated because the world community wants Al-Assad to step down. Israel's main problem is the Iranian nuclear project, which is suspected of making nuclear weapons. It does not care about the crimes committed by Al-Assad in Syria. Damascus does not pose any threat to Israel. That is why Netanyahu reprimanded Avigdor Lieberman, Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, when he said Al-Assad should step down. Netanyahu believes that any Israeli interference now will give Al-Assad a “kiss of life”. Israel and Washington have their eyes on Iran's nuclear facilities and do not care about the Syrian crisis. Former Mossad Chief Efraim Halevy once said: “If Al-Assad's regime falls, the Iranian influence on Syria will end.” The struggle between the West, led by the United States, and the Russian-Chinese axis over the region, which is undergoing a process of restructuring, has contributed to the complexity of the situation. The Syrian crisis cannot be resolved without satisfying the interests of Russia and China. Washington and Moscow should strike a deal which would allow Russia to maintain its ties with Syria after the Al-Assad regime is gone. __
