US-Russian harmony lessens Washington’s need for an ally like Turkey
Washington – North-Press Agency
Hadeel Uweis
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah has stated that he had reduced Hezbollah’s presence in Syria and vowed to target Israel until Eilat, while the founder of the Free Shiite Movement Sheikh Muhammad Al-Hajj Hassan, said that the current conditions force him regarding this matter.
In an exclusive interview with North-Press, Al-Hajj Hassan who lives in the United States said that “Although Nasrallah’s talk about reducing the party’s presence in Syria is inaccurate, It’s somehow right he was forced to withdraw from Syria gradually for many reasons, including the economic reasons such as the imposed sanctions on Iran, the main financier of Hezbollah, as well as the convergence of Russian-American-Israeli views on Syria and the start of Russia’s removal of Iranian militias from the southern borders with Israel”.
Al-Hajj Hassan added that Washington is convinced that the existence of the Islamic State is ideological and not material as on the ground, saying that from the beginning, Trump’s hints regarding withdrawing troops from Syria was inaccurate and not integrated because the experience of the emergence of ISIS after “Al-Qaeda” had become the basis of the US worries and the current trend focuses on not allowing these groups to return under other names.
The withdrawal
Hassan confirmed to North-Press that the withdrawal of some members of Hezbollah is a Russian decision imposed on Iran as a result of rapprochement among the Russians, the Americans, and the Arabs, and this is part of the international agreement to begin drawing a path for a future solution in Syria, pointing out that he is convinced that the party “doesn’t have forces in Syria now as it was a year or two years ago”.
He also pointed out that Russia is pushing Iran as well to withdraw its forces because Iran’s remained forces in Syria will harm Russia’s interests, as Russia has alternatives to secure its interests which are less expensive than the Iranian factions, in addition to the deterioration of the economic situation in Iran and its inability to pay Hezbollah’s allocations. It’s important to remember that Hassan Nasrallah had confirmed that the party’s funding comes from Iran and had mentioned in previous statements that part of the austerity policy will be by reducing the armed existence in Syria.
The war
Al-Hajj Hassan said that Hassan Nasrallah’s “severe threats regarding the war against Israel”, are inseparable from the series of threats he had previously sent, adding “I am not convinced that Iran is fundamentally at odds with Hezbollah’s behaviour, and I believe that Hezbollah will not escalate the situation and will not go into any confrontation with Israel”.
“These statements are no longer useful, everyone knows that an Iranian attack against Israel isn’t going to happen, and perhaps these statements are addressed to the disgruntled and sanctions-affected public of Iran”.
The Syrian Government
The founder of the Free Shiite Movement Sheikh Muhammad Al-Hajj Hassan assured to North-Press that the Syrian opposition “suffered from defeat and failure because it has lost the true direction of the course of the revolution. It gave victory to Iran and Russia because the revolution did not continue with a revolutionary civil ideology. It gave the Syrian government the opportunity to assemble itself and offer an alternative, and despite its worse, it’s considered by many as a better option than extremism”.
Hassan pointed out that “the softening of Hezbollah’s existence is a defeat for the axis of resistance in Syria in turn, because as we know, the opposition areas were not taken by the regime and its allies by mutual consent, but by using all kinds of military forces and thus the population is dissatisfied with the destruction of their cities and massacres, as people will return for revenge such as the case in the region of Hauran (southern Syria), where the areas which were taken by the government forces are being out of the authority of Assad again”.
He added that “The crisis in Syria is not over and the regime is not as victorious as its loyalists say, but the regime will now face different problems and challenges”.
The United States
In the with North-Press Al-Hajj Hassan pointed out that the United States: “Tightens its grip on the Assad government intensively, as we hear from American officials and Arab diplomats that it is a stage to focus on a transitional political process in Syria, and although there are no alternatives today to rule Damascus nor any clear plans on the ground, but there are at the same level, no Arab nor international intentions to re-rule Assad.
He affirmed that President Trump’s announcement of the withdrawal from Syria was nothing more than “a test for the reactions of his electoral public and the international community, and we saw that he retreated from withdrawing because it contradicts with the interests of the United States.
Hassan pointed out that the areas of influence and the safe zones set up by the United States in northeastern Syria are the US long-term winner card.
Al-Hajj Hassan expressed his belief that “The Islamic State was defeated on the ground, but it’s qualified to return again with other names and forms, and this prompts the United States to uphold Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), where Washington has not any other ally in that part of the region and for the past years”.
He also added that the American presence is reinforced by the fact that the US rapprochement with Russia, which reduces the US needs for Turkey, which in part is worried by the US power in the northeast of Syria while trying to block the US of achieving their goals.
Sheikh Muhammad Al-Hajj Hassan, the founder of the Free Shiite Movement concluded his interview with North-Press by saying “The emergence of the Islamic State after Al-Qaeda within the American military concepts is considered as a serious matter for the American strategies in the Middle East, the repetition of the error will cost any administration a lot, and the decision-makers are well aware of that”.