Late last week, Syria and the Islamic Republic of Iran signed a comprehensive agreement to strengthen military and security cooperation. The agreement was signed in the presence of Chief of Staff for the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran Major General Mohammad Bagheri and Syrian Defense Minister General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub.
In this regard, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad welcomed the signing of the agreement and described it as a sign of the high level of strategic relations between the two countries. He said, "the signing of the military and security cooperation agreement between Iran and Syria shows the strategic relations between the two countries and is the result of years of joint action and cooperation in the fight against terrorism in Syria and countering hostile policies targeting Damascus and Tehran."
The agreement on military and security cooperation between Iran and Syria is an important and strategic one. One of the most important clauses of this cooperation agreement emphasizes the strengthening of Syria's missile defense systems by Iran. In fact, Tehran has stated in the agreement that it will equip Syria with advanced air defense systems in order to make the country more secure against the aggressive attacks of the Zionist regime.
The agreement was reached at a time when the Syrian airspace had become a hotbed for Zionist fighter jets over the years that kept targeting Syrian army positions and weapons depots in various parts of the country. Now, with the agreement between Tehran and Damascus that would see to the equipping of the Syrian airspace with the most advanced defense systems, it is predicted that the Zionists will face many difficulties in continuing their previous aggression against Damascus.
Since the Zionist regime has been counting greatly on its airstrikes on Syrian resistance positions in recent years, it is clear that with the signing of the Iran-Syria agreement, the Zionists will now be unable to carry out any more bombings, and thus, the Syrian airspace will be more secure than before.
Accordingly, it is quite obvious that the mentioned agreement has shaken the Zionists and sent a wave of fear and panic through their ranks. Today, the Zionists are more worried than ever about what is happening in Syria. The agreement on military cooperation between Tehran and Damascus has also heightened Tel Aviv officials' concern about the future of developments in the country.
It is because of these concerns that the Zionist regime's media have focused on the military-security agreement between Iran and Syria over the past few days. The recent remarks of the Israeli analyst Roei Qais is a notable example in this case, who said that the agreement between Damascus and Tehran contained two messages for the Zionist regime.
The Zionist analyst explicitly acknowledged that the first message of the agreement is that Iran will remain in Syria despite Tel Aviv's actions, and the second message is that Iran is capable of targeting Israel. Accordingly, the wave of panic rising among the Zionist ranks over the signing of the agreement is quite clear. The Zionists are well aware that this agreement has further shifted the balance of power in Syria in favor of the Resistance.
Furthermore, the Zionists and their American allies have worked hard over the years to undermine the strategic alliance between Tehran and Damascus, pretending that Damascus is finally following in the footsteps of Washington and Tel Aviv and has no choice but to walk out of its alliance with Iran.
Therefore, the signing of a comprehensive agreement in the field of security and military between the two sides destroyed all dreams of the United States and Zionist regime for undermining the Resistance, especially in Syria, and showed the strategic depth of relations between Tehran and Damascus. The signing of the agreement sent an important and strategic message to the American and Zionist leaders that the Tehran-Damascus alliance remains strategic and strong.
On the other hand, the signing of the agreement foiled one of the biggest and most important strategies of the United States and the Zionist regime in Syria, and that was to force Iran to withdraw from Syria. One of the main objectives of exerting so much pressure on Iran in recent months was to drive the Islamic Republic out of Syria and gain free access to strike blows at the Resistance Axis, which was dealt a fatal blow following the signing of the strategic agreement between Tehran and Damascus.
It should also be noted that the comprehensive agreement between Iran and Syria somehow challenged Washington's "Caesar" sanctions law against Damascus. According to one of the clauses of this sanction law, no government is allowed to cooperate with Damascus, and if it breaks away from this law, it will face sanctions and punishment.
Thus, by signing a cooperation agreement with Damascus, the Islamic Republic of Iran first showed the Americans that their actions could not affect Tehran's strategic policies, and second, it formally challenged Caesar's sanctions act.
Meanwhile, the Americans' fear of the strategic agreement between Iran and Syria is quite palpable. The US Department of Defense in a hasty reaction to the agreement said that despite this new development, the United States has no plans to change its missions in Syria. A Pentagon spokesman said the mission had not changed compared to what it was in 2014. Our mission in Syria is the permanent defeat of Daesh, the Pentagon spokesman said.
The reaction from the US shows that the country is terrified of the strategic military-security agreement between Tehran and Damascus, and has realized that the Resistance’s strong coalition after the agreement is capable of defeating plots, schemes, and conspiracies of Washington and Tel Aviv more than ever.
By: Ramin Hossein Abadian
MNA/4970768