But al-Moallem warned that Saudi or other foreign troops entering his country would “return home in wooden coffins”, a line he repeated three times during the one-hour press conference.
Advertisement
Iran, a rival of Saudi Arabia, has sent forces to help its ally Syrian President Bashar Assad, Reuters reported.
Al-Moallem’s comments capped a week that saw the collapse of U.N.-led efforts to launch indirect peace talks between the Syrian government and an opposition delegation in Geneva.
The UAE’s preparedness to participate in a ground military operation in Syria was confirmed on Sunday by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash, who said that “US leadership on this” would be a prerequisite.
Saudi Arabia and Bahrain had said that they were willing to join the fray but only if the ground operation was led by the United States-led coalition instigated the mission.
Also, Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov claimed on the same day that Turkey was making “preparations for an armed invasion” of the country, an allegation Ankara rejected by dismissing any plan for staging a military incursion in its southern neighbor.
Russian and Syrian government forces have intensified an assault on rebel-held areas around the Syrian city of Aleppo, prompting tens of thousands of refugees to flee to the Turkish border.
Nadim Shehadi, who heads the Issam Fares’ Center at Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Diplomacy, argues that the situation in Syria will continue to get worse, so long as the Syrian government and its allies are not met with an adequate counter-response.
The semi-official Fars news agency quoted Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, as saying he didn’t think the Saudis were “brave enough” to send ground troops.
“The fact is the Arab states and Turkey should support the Syrian opposition against ISIS on the ground [but] they don’t”, he said.
Any escalation of the chaotic conflict in Syria could spiral into deeper mayhem, with the possibility of Saudi troops coming up against Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces, for example.
If Saudi troops are sent, it will result in “coup de grace” for them, Jafari asserted, adding that “their fate is sealed”.
Advertisement
He says that Russia’s role won’t end until the defeat of the Islamic State, Jabhat al-Nusra and other groups tied to al-Qaida, which is in accordance with United Nations resolutions.
