On June 3, 2015, following reports in the Arab and world press that thousands of Iranian and Iraqi troops are being dispatched to Syria to defend the Syrian regime,[1] which is said to be on the verge of collapse, Amir Mousavi, a former advisor to the Iranian defense minister,[2] announced in a Facebook post that in a few hours the Iranian leadership will announce the activation of its mutual defense agreement with Syria.[3] The defense agreement between the two countries, which essentially places all of Iran's defensive capabilities at Syria's disposal, was signed in 2007.[4] In 2012 then-Iranian defense minister Ahmad Vahidi said that Iran would "activate the agreement upon [the Syrians'] request."[5]
In a June 6, 2015 interview with the Mehr news agency, Iranian Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezai denied "reports in the foreign press claiming that Iran is planning to officially enter the war in Syria and activate the security-defense agreement between the two countries." He claimed that "this topic did not arise amongst senior Iranian officials in any shape or manner. Iranian policy is clear from the first day. Iranian assistance to the region's countries is humanitarian and advisory. Such a topic , by which Iran would aid directly, or dispatch forces to a specific country, never arose in the responsible [regime] apparatuses."
The following is a translation of Mousavi's post: "In the next few hours, the leadership of the Islamic Revolution in Iran will announce, God willing, the historic decision to activate the mutual defense pact with Syria's legitimate government. I believe that parallel decisions will be taken in Lebanon and Iraq that will reinforce the comprehensive strategy of this decision, [resulting in] an improved state of the resistance axis countries for the purpose of confronting the spread of the extremist terrorist movements supported by the Aal-Sa'ud regime and the global Free Masons organization."
Endnotes:
[1] See June 3, 2015 reports in the Lebanese Daily Star that Iran dispatched 15,000 Iranian and Iraqi fighters to Syria to defend the Assad regime; an AFP report from the same date on the arrival of 7,000 Iranian and Iraqi fighters in Damascus, and a report in the Lebanese Al-Safir, also from June 3, on the arrival of 20,000 Iranian, Iraqi and Lebanese fighters in the Idlib region.
[2] Amir Mousavi is a former Iranian diplomat and the current director of the Center for Strategic Studies and International Relations in Tehran. In an interview with the pro-Hizbullah Lebanese channel Al-Mayadeen TV on July 25, 2014, he advocated arming the West Bank with missiles. He claimed that, thanks to the fight against the takfiri organizations, Iran had discovered efficient routes for transferring weapons to the Palestinians, including via Jordan and the Golan Heights. He added that because of the West Bank's proximity to Tel Aviv and Haifa, short-range missiles would suffice. See MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 1108, Iran's New Strategy Of Diversion: Persuading The Sunni Camp To Fight Israel, Not Iran, August 1, 2014. On December 27, 2014, Mousavi threatened that Iran would respond sharply to the oil price war Saudi Arabia had launched against Iran. See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 5918. "IRGC Weekly To Saudis: 'Iran Has Many Options For Harming Saudi Arabia... All [It] Needs To Do Is Use A Single One Of [Them] So That Nothing Remains Of The Entity Named The Aal-Saud Regime Or Of Saudi Arabia Itself'," December 31, 2014.
[3] Facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=767474936704774&id=654385158013753, June 3, 2015.
[4] On the pact, see MEMRI Inquiry & Analysis No. 380, "The Strategic Alliance Between Iran and Syria - Military and Economic Aspects," August 14, 2007.
[5] See MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 4907, Iran's Defense Minister: We Will Activate The Iran-Syria Defense Agreement Upon Syria's Request, August 23, 2012.
