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Syria Iran and Iraq
Syrian support of Iran in the Iran-Iraq War and its enmity
toward Iraq was modified in 1986. The Syrian-Iranian alliance had
been cemented with a March 1982 economic accord that provided for
shipments of subsidized Iranian oil to Syria, at which time Syria
closed Iraq's oil pipeline through Syrian territory. Syria's
support for Iran was not a reflection of any ideological affinity
between Assad's regime and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's Islamic
fundamentalism but rather an instance of pragmatic politics. It
seemed to illustrate the Arab saying that "the enemy of my enemy
is my friend." Syria supported Iran because Iraq had been Syria's
implacable foe for decades. Moreover, Syria's alliance with Iran
allowed it to exert control over pro-Iranian Shia forces in
Lebanon and use them as a proxy force to impose Syrian designs
there. In supporting Iran, Syria broke ranks once again with a
nearly unanimous Arab opinion favoring Iraq.
However, although Syria wanted Iraq weakened and neutralized,
it did not envision the installation in Baghdad of a pro-Iranian
fundamentalist Shia regime. As the beleaguered Iraqi regime lost
ground to advancing Iranian forces, Assad stated in October 1986
that Syria could not accept the occupation of Iraqi land by
anyone. Subsequently, Syrian and Iraqi officials met to explore
the possibility of restoring relations. Assad's statement may
have prompted the temporary kidnapping, the following day, of the
Syrian chargé d'affaires in Tehran. Later in October, Assad met
in Damascus with Iranian minister of the Revolutionary Guards
Muhsin Rafiq-Dost to repair Syrian-Iranian relations. Rafiq-Dost
stated that the Syrians had announced their resolute support of
Iran until the downfall of the Iraqi regime and the "liberation
of Iraq." However, Syria did not affirm the Iranian statement,
and in early 1987, Syrian support for Iran appeared to be
qualified.
Data as of April 1987
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