IRAN TELLS A BEWILDERED SYRIA HEZBOLLAH MUST PLAY IT COOL
By Safa Haeri, IPS Editor
PARIS 29TH May (IPS) Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has told his Syrian counterpart Hafez el Asad that while Iran "understands, sympathises and fully backs Syria" in present "difficult situation", yet it considers that (the Lebanese) Hezbollah must not be used as "an instrument of (anti-Israeli) provocation", informed Iranian sources told Iran Press Service.
Mr. Khatami's message was conveyed to president Asad by the Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi on Sunday, at the end of a "lightning visit" he paid to Damascus on the same day.
Sources told IPS that in his message Mr. Khatami has "suggested" that now that the Islamic resistance has achieved a "historic victory over the Zionists", it must keep "humble and low profile" in order not to damage the "high moral standing" it has gained in the process.
"The Syrian President told Kharrazi that Lebanon's victory was the result of convergence and unity of action of all forces present in the Lebanese scene as well as countries supporting the resistance", the official Iranian news agency IRNA reported from Damascus, observing that Iran and Syria have long been in contact, consultation and exchange of views in line with interests of the two countries as well as those of the region.
"Such consultations and co-ordination between the two countries resulted in the achievement of successful gains", IRNA quoted the Syrian president as having further remarked.
Syrian Foreign Affairs Minister Farouq al-Shara' termed the meeting of Kharrazi and President Asad as "important and constructive."
"Given the sensitive period in which the meeting was held, i.e. in the wake of the recent victory of the Lebanese nation after the withdrawal of Zionist Forces from occupied lands in South Lebanon, the talks were very successful and useful", Mr. Shara' told IRNA.
Similar talks were held between Kharrazi and al-Shara' on issues related to peace process prospects and to Syria's cling to her firm and principled stances through implementation for related UN Security Council resolutions and the principle of land for peace", the Iranian agency further reported from Damascus.
Talking to reporters Kharrazi said rapid developments in the region "necessitate constant contacts as well as collaboration and consultations between Iranian and Syrian officials".
Arab and Iranian political analysts noted that the withdrawal of Israel from Lebanon presents a serious challenge to the so-called Iranian-Syrian "strategic alliance" in regard to their "co-ordinated" support for the Lebanese Hezbollah.
"The (Israeli) withdrawal (from the Security Zone it had created in portions of south Lebanon 22 years ago) consecrates a victory for Muslim Shi'a Iran, the main financial, military and psychological backer of Hezbollah, also a Shi'a-dominated organisation, but it deprives at the same time Syria, the logistic provider, of it's last, best and probably only bargaining card against Israel", explained Dr Alireza Nurizadeh, a London-based Arab and Iranian affairs watcher.
As both Iranian and Syrian ministers reiterated that their leaders "will act wisely" in order to prevent Israeli conspiracies from taking advantage of the situation by inciting tension in the region, Mr. Uri Lubrani, the Israeli Government's Co-ordinator for Lebanon warned as "conceivable that interested parties are fanning the flames of provocation to test Israel's reaction - be it Hizbollah, backed by its mentors and financial supporters in Iran, or Palestinian rejectionist elements, perhaps with the tacit support of Syria, or a combination of these and other factors".
"Syria controls Lebanon and in fact is delaying the deployment of Lebanese Army troops in the south of the country, having made it clear to the Lebanese government that this should not occur before the conclusion of a comprehensive peace accord among Israel, Syria, and Lebanon", he told the right wing English language daily "Jerusalem Post", breaking the silence he had maintained on the Israeli pullout from the Security Zone.
Commenting on the incidents along the Israeli-Lebanese border where Lebanese demonstrators threw stones at Israeli soldiers who in turn fired at them, Lubrani said
"Being at the beginning of a new chapter in this unfolding drama, we have to hope that what is happening [with the demonstrations] is the tail-end of the manifestation of Hizbollah's euphoria".
"We can only hope that the kind of incidents we witnessed yesterday will be dealt with quickly and effectively and thereby remove a potential source of escalation," he told the Jerusalem Post.
It was Lubrani who first had suggested the idea of resolving the Lebanon problem by withdrawing from the security zone under the auspices of UN Security Council Resolution 425.
His comment came independent of an article by the veteran military analyst Ze'ev Schiff in the influential daily Ha'aretz claiming that Iran was providing Damascus with rocket fuels giving Syria the possibility to deploy newly acquired the so far unknown North Korean-build Scud D, with an estimated range of 700 kilometres was unknown until recently.
While the range of the new missiles is estimated at 700 kilometres, Syria only needs a 500-kilometer range to cover most of Israel, although it seems that Damascus' intention is to be able to deploy the new missile deeper in its territory while keeping Israel within range, Mr. Schiff said.
North Korean missiles with a 1300-kilometer range served as the prototype for the Iranian-made Shehab-3.
Considering the poor situation of Iranian economy, the financial assistance, --estimated at around a Hundred million US Dollars per year -- Tehran is providing to the Lebanese Hezbollah could no more be justified, analysts said, observing, however, that the matter depends directly on the decision of Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, the Iranian leader who personally supervises the issue, independent of the government. ENDS IRAN SYRIA HEZBOLLAH 29500