Arabs Shouldn't Leave Syria to Iran, Saudi Analyst Says (ARABS‪)‬

The Arab world should not remain silent about the bloody crushing of protests in Syria or it may risk losing that country to Iran as it did in Iraq, a leading Saudi analyst wrote in the Londonbased daily AL HAYAT on Aug. 7. "The Arab world's silence about Syria seems unjustifiable, irrespective of what is meant by it and the reason behind it. It is not in the Arabs' interest to repeat what they did about Iraq ... Iran is obviously intervening in Syria and providing its regime with financial and military support," Khaled Dakheel said in the Saudi-owned newspaper. He recalled an Aug. 5 report by ASHARQ AL AWSAT which is also a London-based Saudi-owned daily newspaper, that Iran is pressuring its allies in Iraq to provide Damascus with $10 billion in financial support. "Iranian interference in Syria will only prolong Syria's crisis and further weaken that country, together with the Arab world," he added. A prominent source in the Iraqi National Alliance, which is in alliance with the State of Law Coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Maliki, told ASHARQ AL AWSAT that "Iran has pressured its allies in Baghdad into supporting the Syrian authorities with 10 billion dollars," adding that "Maliki yielded to this Iranian demand and is actually supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad financially." Earlier this week, Gulf Arab states broke their silence over the bloody crackdown on popular unrest in Syria, recalling their envoys in a pointed rebuke of Assad's behavior and significantly deepening his international isolation. In less than 24 hours, the island kingdom of Bahrain and oil-rich neighbor Kuwait followed Saudi Arabia's lead by summoning their ambassadors from Damascus "for consultations."