Clinton Slams Iran For Aiding ‘Its Proxy and Crony in Damascus’

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticized Iran for supporting the Syrian regime, even as she announced $45 million more in aid for the rebel militias, many of whom have links to al-Qaeda.

“There is no longer any doubt that Tehran will do whatever it takes to protect its proxy and crony in Damascus,” Clinton said.

Clinton made the comment, as usual, without any embarrassment that Iran’s support of Syria mirrors US support of its own “crony” dictatorships holding violently onto power throughout the Middle East.

Clinton, at the same meeting and without any irony, announced $45 million in additional “non-lethal” aid like intelligence, training, and communications support. This, despite the fact that the United Nations has repeatedly called out the Syrian rebels for having committed war crimes and that Washington’s own intelligence has concluded that much of the rebel militias are foreign fighters battling under the banner of al-Qaeda.

“Let’s be very frank here – the regime’s most important lifeline is Iran,” Clinton then claimed. But that is far from clear. Syria’s more important allies appear to be Russia, and perhaps China. The former continues to support Damascus and both countries have vowed to veto any UN Security Council resolution that may invite US or NATO military intervention, a fact that has been crucial to the Assad regime’s survival given the Obama administration’s reluctance to intervene absent such a resolution.

Instead, Washington seems to be hyping Iran’s alleged support for Syria in an attempt to single out and demonize the Islamic Republic, at a time when concerns of a preventive Israeli strike are high.