The Syrian-Iranian Axis is Seen Alive and Well! (Iran Alliance‪)‬

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton commented in October on Syrian-U.S. relations, saying that the Syrian regime had not yet met "our hopes and expectations," which include, among other things, "distancing Damascus from the Islamic regime in Tehran." "Why should we do that?" Syrian President Bashar al-Assad once responded to such a remark. "Will the Americans agree to distance themselves from Israel?" Adel al Toraifi asked in ASHARQ AL AWSAT on Oct. 12. Syria and Israel are arch adversaries in the Middle East, with the Jewish state occupying a strategic chunk of Syrian land since the 1967 Middle East war. With this in mind and a determination to retrieve its territory in the Golan Heights, Syria had the foresight in 1970 to strike a strategic alliance with Iran which lasted until now. The United States and some of its Arab allies would like to curb Iran's growing influence in the region and return Syria to the Arab fold. They fear a conflict of interest could spark a large scale confrontation in a regional that is vital to the industrialized world.