Press TV talks with Mohammad Marandi, professor of the University of Tehran, about the Islamic Republic of Irans stance on the Syrian crisis.The following is an approximate transcription of the interview.
Press TV:From what we heard the Leader say, how can Irans official position be interpreted concerning the Syrian situation? Of course, we know that officially Iran has said it is against military intervention but what kind of a reaction do you think Iran will show once a military strike takes place indeed it does?
Marandi:I think there is no doubt that the Iranians will increase their support for the Syrian people and fortunately the international community is rallying against the United States and its aggressive posturing for the Syrian people and I think the Iranians show that it is a very good opportunity to increase American isolation in this part of the world and beyond.
What Iran will actually do I think at this stage is unclear. The Iranians never show their hands, as they say, but I think that the Americans definitely will recognize and understand that the Iranians will make life for them a lot more difficult and those who support aggression against Syria in this region will definitely not benefit from the strikes and from aggression.
Press TV:When the Leader says that the United States on Syria is making a mistake and it will have to pay the price, what do you think he means by that? What is the price that you think the US would have to pay if it launches a strike?
Marandi:I think this works at different levels. Militarily speaking, the United States may be able to kill people in Syria but at the end of the day, people will recognize that the United States has carried out aggression against a country to help al-Qaeda-like groups in Syria to overthrow a government that has been the victim of horrific terrorist attacks; terrorists who eat people, terrorists who cut off the heads of people and terrorists who have already used chemical weapons in the past like sarin because UN monitors and inspectors have stated this before. Carla Del Ponte, as we all know, she has said that on previous occasions it has been the opposition that has used chemical weapons.
So all evidence points to the fact that allies of the United States are carrying out atrocities and using weapons of mass destruction and the United States though wants to punish the Syrian government basically because the militants and al-Qaeda-like groups are losing the war in Syria.
So the United States is going to lose friends; key countries like Russia and China will be unforgiving and definitely people in Iraq and other regional countries will harden their stance against the Saudi dictatorship and other American client regimes in the region and the United States will become a pariah. They will be seen as a pariah state and a rogue regime that carries out attacks on different countries one after another.
By Press TV
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