Al-Muallem said conventional wisdom and logic would suggest the idea of Saudi troops in Syria is far-fetched, but that “with the insane Saudi leadership nothing is far-fetched”.
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Saudi Arabian, Turkish, American, or other foreign troops in Syria also should ring an alarm bell.
He said the Iraqi government should increase its efforts and cooperation in order to counter Daesh, adding that the political action by Baghdad should include, and not exclude, Sunnis.
Al-Moualem said that any ground intervention in the country, that did not have the government’s permission, would be considered an “act of aggression” and that the troops would be sent home in wooden coffins.
But ahead of those talks, events on the ground are moving quickly as both sides try to position themselves for a possible return to the negotiating table. “Sending troops by Saudi Arabia means a coup de grace for its regime which, of course, is not bad”, chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Ja’afari said on Saturday.
Jafari’s comment came three days after peace talks for the Syrian conflict were put on hold amid anger among Syrian opposition groups over a Russian air campaign over the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.
Since late 2014 Saudi Arabia has been part of a US-led coalition which officially has 65 members and has been bombing the Islamic State Sunni extremist group which seized large parts of Syria and Iraq. For instance, Saudi officials had said they would help marshal some Muslim countries to join in the fight, and to ensure that Iraqi and Syrian populations were able to prevent a reemergence of the military group later, Carter said.
Riyadh, Washington and their allies are staunchly opposed to the Syrian government, providing Takfiri militants with arms and funds to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is of the opinion that the resistance movement in the region is now very capable of defending its objectives on its own”, he said. “Even if they send troops, they would be definitely defeated … it would be suicide”, Jafari was quoted as saying.
Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Moallem said Saturday that the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic to the Syrian-Syrian dialogue in Geneva showed belief in Syrians right and Syria’s future.
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He alleged the opposition never meant to negotiate seriously. Yet this also raises important questions about the consequences of such action, questions that typically are neither asked nor answered by any government before it undertakes military action inside an Arab country.
