Iran Today : Rafsanjani Takes A Step Back Over Syria ?
Published on September 4th, 2013 | by Joanna Paraszczuk
▻http://eaworldview.com/2013/09/iran-today-rafsanjani-takes-a-step-back-over-syria
After causing a stir by going against the official line and blaming the Syrian Government for the August 21 chemical weapons attacks outside Damascus, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani appears to have now taken a step back from that position.
Fars News, close to the Revolutionary Guards, writes on Tuesday that Rafsanjani told a meeting of the Expediency Council that Tehran’s support for Syria must continue — as well as support for Lebanon — because “these countries are at the front line of resistance against Israel”.
According to Fars, Rafsanjani now casts suspicion over Washington’s reaction to the August 21 attacks, noting that: “America had prepared everything earlier and they themselves announced that they knew three days earlier that chemical materials were to be used.”
The U.S. was trying to create “sedition” in the region by going to war, he added, even though “Syria is not America’s problem, and the Middle East is the important matter for the West.”
While refraining from issuing any specific threats against the U.S. or Israel, Rafsanjani does echo other voices in Iran — notably the Revolutionary Guards — when he warns that “all diplomatic capacities must be used, because if the region heads toward war, all of it will burn in this war’s fire.”
So can we consider these remarks to be a complete retraction?
What is notable, however, is that Rafsanjani — at least according to Fars — does not change tack entirely and blame the insurgency for the chemical attacks. Instead, he offers this explanation: “It could be that individuals have penetrated the Syrian Army and they carried out these measures.”
Whether this is a refusal to completely retract his earlier accusations, a face-saving measure, or merely Fars News spin is unclear.