Leader: West trying to take Syria out of regional equations
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Western countries are trying to remove Syria from the regional equations through new methods.
The Westerners and their acolytes in the region tried to overthrow Syria’s political system and remove it from the regional equations through the war they waged against the country, but they did not succeed, Ayatollah Kahmenei told visiting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday.
“Now they want to use other methods, including promises that they never fulfill, in order to take Syria out of the regional equations,” he added.
Assad traveled to Tehran to offer condolences over the loss of late president Ebrahim Raisi and his companions in a helicopter crash on May 19.
Ayatollah Khamenei hailed Syria’s “distinguished identity” in the region, saying it is owed to the Syrian nation’s resistance.
The distinguished identity of Syria, the Leader said, was formed during the late Hafez Assad’s era with the founding of the resistance front and standing against the West.
“This identity has always contributed to the national unity of Syria,” he added.
Ayatollah Khamenei also lauded President Assad for his firm stand, saying “everyone should see the special privilege of the Syrian government, that is, resistance, in front of their eyes”.
The Leader stressed the need for Syria and Iran to strengthen relations given that the two countries are “the pillars of the axis of resistance”.
‘Cost of resistance
lower than
compromise’
President Assad touched on the evolution of resistance in the region, saying after more than 50 years, it has become a religious and political approach.
Assad said his position has always been that any retreat against the West would lead to its advances.
“I announced a few years ago that the cost of resistance is lower than the cost of compromise, and this issue is now very clear to the Syrian people, Syrian president said.
“Your remarks had important points, but one point was more important to me, when you emphasized that ‘the more we retreat, the more the other side will come forward’,” Ayatollah Khamenei responded.