by Daniel Siryoti, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
Thousands of Iranian Revolutionary Guard troops and Hezbollah fighters have begun deploying along Syrian-Jordanian border, Al-Hayat reports • Jordanian foreign minister warns Tehran the move could undermine regional stability and spark a military clash.
A Jordanian soldier stands
guard on the Jordan-Syrian border [Archive]
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Photo credit: Reuters  |
Iran's Revolutionary Guard along with
Hezbollah operatives have recently begun deploying along the
Syrian-Jordanian border, the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported on
Monday.
According to the report, the Iranian force
deployed near the border, which mostly arrived directly from Iran,
comprises between 10,000 and 15,000 soldiers. The Hezbollah fighters,
meanwhile, arrived from the military training camps established by the
Revolutionary Guard in southern Lebanon near the border with Syria.
Jordan, worried about the Revolutionary Guard
concentration on its border, dispatched Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh to
Tehran in recent days, Al-Hayat reported.
Jordanian security officials said Judeh
conveyed an unequivocal message to the Iranians, saying the Hashemite
kingdom sees Tehran's troop deployment in a negative light.
According to the report, Judeh demanded
clarifications on the troop build-up and told his hosts that their move
could undermine regional stability and even spark a military
confrontation between the Jordanian army and Iranian forces, if Jordan's
defense establishment concludes the deployment poses a threat to the
kingdom's security.
Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Assad said
Monday that only Syrians can decide his future -- apparently dismissing
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's remark that Washington would be
willing to talk with Assad to help broker a political resolution to the
country's civil war.
Asked about Kerry's statement regarding
potential talks with the Syrian government, Assad said, "We are still
hearing statements and have to wait for actions. Then we will decide."
He added that any "talk about the future of the Syrian president is for
Syrian people alone."
Assad said Damascus was not concerned about
comments made from abroad, describing them as "bubbles that disappear
after some time."
The Syrian leader spoke to Iranian TV after a
meeting with visiting Iranian Economy Minister Ali Tayebnia. Tehran is
one of Assad's closest allies and strongest backers in his battle
against rebels trying to remove him from power.
Kerry said in an interview with CBS News that
the U.S. is pushing for Assad to seriously discuss a transition strategy
to help end the Syrian conflict, which has killed more than 220,000
people since it started four years ago.
Some in the Middle East saw Kerry's statement
as a shift in America's policy on Syria after President Barack Obama's
repeated calls for Assad to step down. Damascus has long accused
Washington and its allies of militarizing Syria's conflict.
The foreign minister of Turkey, another U.S.
ally, also reacted sharply to Kerry's comments, and reiterated Ankara's
position that Assad must go.
"What can you negotiate with a regime that has
killed more than 200,000 people and used chemical weapons?" Mevlut
Cavusoglu said during a visit Monday to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. "What
result have you achieved from past negotiations?"
The main Western-backed opposition group, the
Syrian National Coalition, said in a statement Monday that "bringing
down the head of the regime and all officials responsible for crimes
against the Syrian people are a main goal of the coalition."
Assad said that international overtures are
positive "if they are sincere." He added that such a move should start
with "ceasing political support to terrorists, stop financing them and
stop sending weapons."
He said that pressure should be exerted on European
countries and regional states who give "logistical, financial and
military support to terrorists and then we can say that the change has
become real."
Daniel Siryoti, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=24201
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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