Alwaght- After a year of cooperation and inflicting a defeat on the Israeli regime in Gaza and Lebanon by the Axis of Resistance members, this time the enemy plot in Syria is captivating the attention of the members of this regional coalition.
In this connection, the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who in recent months has several times visited Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq to advance the cooperation of the Axis of Resistance against the Israeli violations, has now started a new round of his diplomatic activism after Syria armed opposition began their fresh advances in the Arab country.
After visiting Damascus, Araghchi on Friday headed to Baghdad as a new destination of his diplomatic tour.
Araqchi's presence in Baghdad was to participate in a trilateral meeting with the foreign ministers of Syria and Iraq, which reflects the common sense of threat felt by the three countries by the new round of terrorist and armed movements' attacks in Syria.
Holding this trilateral meeting in Baghdad, on the one hand, evokes the serious concern of Iraqi officials about the developments in the neighboring country, as the government of Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani has implemented special measures and a state of emergency on the borders with Syria since the beginning of the developments and on the other hand, it demonstrates Iraq's important role in the operation to support Syria and the political and military management of this complex, challenging, and possibly time-consuming scene.
Learning from 2014-2017 terrorist developments that started with ISIS seizure of Syrian and Iraqi territory and caused a serious security crisis to the two countries, Iraq rightly took a stance against the Syrian opposition and voiced its support to the Syrian government and army.
In this regard, the Iraqi PM, in a meeting with Araqchi, reiterated Baghdad's position of support for Damascus, adding: "Iraq's official and consistent position is to support the unity, security and stability of Syria, and we emphasize the importance of respecting Syria's sovereignty. We will continue extensive diplomatic efforts to contain the crisis in Syria due to its clear impact on Iraqi security."
Last Saturday, al-Sudani, in a phone conversation with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, expressed his country's readiness to provide any necessary support to Syria to confront terrorism and all terrorist groups.
In this connection, Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed cited three Iraqi sources, one of whom being the foreign ministry's, reporting that al-Assad has called for direct military support from Iraq.
Another source, a member of the Iraqi parliament's Security and Defense Commission, claimed in an interview with Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed that there are differences among Iraqi political leaders regarding supporting the Syrian government, as the opposition says that providing special weapons may lead to sanctions against Iraq.
The source claimed that the government and ruling groups in Iraq left this decision to groups that are willing to go to Syria and confront terrorists.
Meanwhile, the Eram News website, close to the United Arab Emirates, citing an officer of the Iraqi Armed Forces' General Command, claimed that the military leadership had unanimously agreed not to directly intervene militarily in Syria and to limit it to securing the border within 25 kilometers.
According to this outlet, citing Iraqi sources, the assessments of all military leaders, both in the ministry of defense and inside the country, have been the need not to push Iraqi military units deep into Syria and reach Aleppo, Idlib or any city in the north or elsewhere, especially since this stage requires months of time for ground surveys and the activation of "intelligence work in the depth of the battles, as well as heavy air cover."
However, contrary to these reports, which are quoted by anonymous sources, last week, in a phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who plays a key role in providing weapons and logistics to the armed opposition and terrorist groups in Idlib, al-Sudani explicitly emphasized that Iraq would not simply be a bystander to the dangerous events in Syria.
Iraq's determining role in Syrian developments
Iraq's territorial connection to Syria and its position as a bridgehead in the security belt from Tehran to Damascus have led to security connection and its very decisive role in the effective confrontation of the Axis of Resistance with the new challenge Syria is facing.
On the other hand, the Iraqi army and other armed forces, especially the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), with their high combat capabilities and equipped with the most advanced weapons and a wide range of forces familiar with urban and guerrilla warfare against terrorist-takfiri groups and with valuable experience learned from the fight against ISIS, give us another reason to think that Iraq is key to Syria conflict.
Awareness and emphasis on this potentially decisive role of Iraq in the future developments of the new Syrian war is not limited to the allied resistance forces, and the commander of the Tahrir al-Sham terrorists organization, sought to dissuade Iraq from backing Syrian army as could not hide his concern about pro-Syrian stances of Iraq officials.
Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, called on Baghdad to prevent the intervention of the PMF in Syria in a video message to al-Sudani on Thursday.
He called the concerns of Iraqi officials unrealistic and claimed: "We have seen many illusions from some Iraqi politicians who think that what is happening in Syria will spread to Iraq. I firmly say that this is 100 percent wrong."
It is quite clear that al-Jolani is concerned about the possible military support of the Iraqis for Syria and the entry of the PMF into the battlefronts. Therefore, with this message, he seeks to sow division among the Iraqi officials and weaken the will of the Iraqis to repel a major threat that will certainly not be limited to the geography of Syria, and the terrorists' next goal is to rebuild the collapsed ISIS caliphate with a new face and name.
Meanwhile, this reality should be noted that in recent years and after collapse of the self-proclaimed ISIS caliphate, many of its fighters fled to Syria from Iraq or were freshly recruited by the Idlib-based armed groups, or were captured and held in prisons run by the US-backed Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and they are likely to be freed to join the ranks of the rebels.
Until now, in parallel with the terrorist attacks, the US and the Israel have tried to prevent the resistance support forces from entering Syrian territory from Lebanon, and the border crossings between Lebanon and Syria have been bombed many times so that the anti-Asssd militants can continue their advances with less difficulty.
However, al-Jolani's warning immediately failed, and Ja'far Al-Husseini, the military spokesman for the Kataib Hezbollah brigades, responded to this message by reiterating support for Syria and saying: "Our power will severely target you, your mercenaries, and your foreign supporters."
He also stated: "We are aware that this terrorist group has reached an agreement with the Zionist regime against the Syrian people and the Axis of Resistance."
Iraqis must also understand the danger that the joint American-Turkish-Israeli conspiracy to divide Syria is now very serious, and each of these actors is already pursuing its own interests in dividing Syria, and it is interesting to note that the evil interests of this triangle apply exactly to Iraq, too.
Firstly, the US and Israel are pursuing Syria partition as part of the New Middle East plan, which has been reactivated in the White House policy, and partition of Iraq is part of this plan.
Secondly, Erdogan’s Turkey according to its neo-Ottoman vision has always dreamed of retaking territories separated from the Ottoman realm in neighboring countries, especially Aleppo of Syria and Kirkuk and Mosul of Iraq.
By building over 130 military bases in various parts of northern Iraq, Turkey has already seized Iraqi territory and it rejects to withdraw despite several Baghdad complaints to the international organizations.
Therefore, the Iraqi officials should take danger of the evil plans of this triangle for Syria and Iraq seriously to the highest degrees and do not just stop behind Syrian gates in expectation of arrival of the threat. Iraqis can even cut off oil exports to Turkey and impose a heavy embargo on the Turkish goods to show Erdogan that he should pay a high price for his support to the security threats against vital interests of Baghdad.
