Iran is cautious about supporting Syria

Eyes on nuclear talks, Iran tempers support for Assad, Christian Science Monitor Iran is in a tough spot. It has a decades-long alliance with Syria to uphold, but is seeking to reengage with the US, which is considering strikes against Syria.

By Scott Peterson, Staff writer / August 30, 2013 As an American military strike looms over Syria, Iran is weighing its decades-long alliance with Syria against its own pledges to reengage with the US and the West over its nuclear program and other issues…… the newly elected government of President Hassan Rouhani has struck a far more moderate tone. As a victim of years of chemical weapon attacks during the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s – during which Syria was a lone supporter of Iran’s nascent revolutionary regime – Iranian officials have carefully condemned the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any side and urged a diplomatic solution.

“It is a complex process, but I think Iran can do this, keep [the Syria issue] away from its negotiation with the West and also the US on the nuclear file,” says an Iranian analyst in Tehran who asked not to be named…….

Rouhani’s test The Syria crisis is a first foreign policy test for Rouhani, the centrist cleric who won a surprise victory in mid-June elections and took office earlier this month promising to resolve tensions with the West and bring “more transparency” to stalled nuclear talks.

Noting Iran’s history of being targeted with chemical weapons, Rouhani tweeted this week: “Iran gives notice to [sic] international community to use all its might to prevent use of chemical weapons anywhere in the world, esp. in Syria.”……. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2013/0830/Eyes-on-nuclear-talks-Iran-tempers-support-for-Assad