Syria was the target of intense diplomatic efforts by Iran this week, with the country's foreign minister and top adviser to supreme leader Ali Khamenei visiting Damascus, writes Bassel Oudat After stopping in Lebanon for several days, Ali Akbar Wilayati, top adviser on international affairs to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, arrived in Damascus this week for talks with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, Vice-President Farouk Al-Sharaa, and Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallim, as well as the leaders of Palestinian resistance factions residing in the Syrian capital, including Khaled Meshaal, head of the Hamas political bureau, and Ramadan Abdallah Shallah, secretary-general of Al-Jihad Al-Islami. Less than 24 hours after Wilayati had wrapped up his visit, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki also arrived in Damascus on a surprise visit and met with the same Syrian officials and Palestinian resistance leaders. Press releases issued in Damascus and Tehran at the end of the two visits were brief, announcing that talks have been held between Iranian officials and the Syrian leadership to discuss topics that included conditions in Lebanon after Israel's recent violation of Lebanese sovereignty, developments in the occupied Palestinian territories, the formation of a new government in Iraq, and Iran's nuclear programme. Wilayati's and Mottaki's visits came days after a showdown between Israeli and Lebanese forces on the Lebanese border and shortly after the US threatened to stop supplying the Lebanese army with weapons because of cross-border fighting. Wilayati, a career diplomat who has previously served as Iran's foreign minister, denied when speaking to reporters at the Iranian embassy in Damascus that Syria and Iran had discussed extending Iranian assistance to the Lebanese army. Tehran's support "comes in the form of support for the Lebanese government, people and resistance," he said. Syrian analysts believe that the possibility of implicating Hizbullah in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri in 2005 is of concern to both Syria and Iran. The current round of intense Iranian diplomatic activity in Damascus is intended to "defuse strife that could target the resistance in Lebanon", the analysts said, pre- empting the anticipated indictments of members of Hizbullah by the international tribunal investigating the assassination. In his comments, Wilayati stressed that Hizbullah should not be indicted by the international tribunal, warning that if this occurred "the government, resistance and people of Lebanon will oppose the accusations, since if they do not there will be room for Israel to interfere." Iran's diplomatic moves were also closely watched by Washington, some in the US media reporting that advisors to US President Barack Obama had been alarmed by Tehran's pro-active moves in Syria and Lebanon, suggesting that these could have triggered US threats to slash financial and military aid to Lebanon. An important issue raised in the discussions between Syria and Iran was the formation of a new government in Iraq. The joint press release issued after the talks noted that both sides had agreed on the need to speed up the formation of a national-unity government in Iraq, in order to ensure the return of security and stability to the country. However, whatever the two sides may say in public the reality is that Syria and Iran do not see eye-to-eye on Iraq. On the eve of Wilayati's visit to Damascus, Syrian Foreign Minister Al-Muallim revealed that Damascus and Tehran had disagreed over Iranian insistence on backing its favoured candidate as Iraqi prime minister. Al-Muallim said there was a distinction to be drawn between political and economic relations between Damascus and Tehran, and positions needed to be coordinated on a case-by-case basis. "Coordination with Iran is ongoing on Iraq and Iran's nuclear programme," Al-Muallim told an audience at Damascus University. "But this coordination does not mean identical viewpoints." "We disagree on Iraq, because [Iran] is backing one candidate for prime minister over the other," he said, while Syria "will not pick who will head the Iraqi government in advance and will support the choice of the Iraqi people in the elections instead." Syria's prime minister reiterated this position when he commented that there was "complete coordination between us and our brothers in Iran. This coordination is part of a strategy for the coming period, but it has nothing to do with what is happening in Iraq. Iraq's Arab character is the red line." While Tehran and Damascus agree that foreign forces should exit from Iraq and that Iraqis should run the country, they disagree on the formation of the new government. Syria wants to see Iyad Allawi, head of the Iraqiya bloc, become prime minister, while Iran wants to see Allawi's competitor Nuri Al-Maliki, leader of the State of Law Coalition and Iraq's present prime minister, in the post, believing that he is favourable towards Tehran. For his part, Wilayati denied there was a dispute between Iran and Syria regarding the formation of a new government in Iraq. The formation of the government was an "issue for the Iraqi people", he said, and any decision reached "would be respected by the Syrians and Iranians". Wilayati rejected arguments that Iran supported one candidate over the other. "Iran has nothing to do with the formation of a government in Iraq, and we look forward to a government elected by the Iraqi people to serve their interests without foreign interference. Iran does not champion one side or another," Wilayati said. On the Palestinian issue, talks between Iranian and Syrian officials stressed "the need to end attempts to increase the Jewish population of Jerusalem and to force Israel to end the siege on Gaza," according to official statements. However, there was little information available about the meetings between Wilayati and Mottaki and Meshaal and Shallah. While Syria generally does not interfere in relations between the Palestinian resistance groups and Iran, it does closely observe them, trying to steer them towards serving Syrian interests. Iran's nuclear programme and the threat of a possible strike on Iran also had a prominent place in the talks between the two sides. Syria rejected sanctions against Iran, officials said, doubting that war was on the horizon, while Iran asserted that the sanctions would not affect the country's decision to pursue nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. On his flight back to Tehran, Mottaki said that Syria, Iran and Hizbullah were in complete agreement about the need to confront threats from Israel. Any military attack by the US on Iran would not be limited to Iran alone, he said, but would have "dangerous ramifications in the region, and US losses would go beyond those suffered in Afghanistan and Iraq." Syrian officials said that it was unlikely that war would break out against Iran, warning that Tehran's response could "blow up the entire region" and describing US threats as "part of a psychological war, nothing more". While observers and some officials in Syria have insisted that there are important differences between Tehran and Damascus on such issues as the government in Iraq or the US position and peace negotiations with Israel, they also describe these differences as being "diverging opinions", noting that in general relations between the two countries remain strong.
