VLADIVOSTOK, Russia – Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird says he’s cutting ties with Iran amid worries about the safety of Canadian diplomats in the country.
Baird says the Canadian embassy in Tehran will close immediately and Iranian diplomats in Canada have been given five days to leave.
He says he’s worried about the safety of diplomats in Tehran following recent attacks on the British embassy there.
He’s also warning ordinary Canadians to avoid travel to Iran.
Michel Chossudovsky, a prominent analyst and director of the Centre for Research on Globalization, says Western powers are after a war of aggression in Syria by supporting and arming insurgents and terrorists, Press TV reports.
“It is well-understood that this is not a civil war; this is a war of aggression where forces of some NATO countries have entered the country; I am talking about elite SAS, MI6, US CIA, French and American forces, forces from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, mercenaries… the aggressors are the NATO countries and the FSA [the so-called Free Syrian Army] terrorists are their foot soldiers,” Michel Chossudovsky said in an interview with Press TV on Wednesday.
He went on to say that there is a breakdown of UN diplomacy because “the Secretary General (Ban Ki-moon) is in fact blaming the victims in the name of the aggressors.”
“He is blaming the victims in the name of the aggressors; it is well-documented that these atrocities directed against the Syrian people have been committed by FSA mercenaries and terrorists and these terrorists are supported by the Western military alliance,” the Canadian analyst noted.
Chossudovsky further argued that the underlying objective of the actions of the Western powers in Syria is to “destroy the Syrian nation.”
“What is happening now is a whole series of acts of intimidation, of threats, not to mention economic sanctions. The underlying objective is to destroy a nation; it is to kill a nation, to destabilize its economy, to trigger a humanitarian crisis and then send in the NGOs to pick up the pieces and so on and so forth or send in NATO,” he explained.
Many people, including large numbers of security forces, have been killed in the turmoil that began in Syria in March 2011.
Damascus says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving force behind the unrest and deadly violence, but the opposition accuses the security forces of being behind the killings.
The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the armed militants are foreign nationals.
Satellite companies Nilesat and Arabsat have stopped broadcasting Syrian television stations.
Satellite companies Nilesat and Arabsat have stopped broadcasting Syrian television stations in a clear act of hostility against the Damascus government.
The operators took Syria’s state television channel as well as pro-government channels al-Ekhbaryah and al-Dunya off air on Wednesday shortly after a meeting of Arab League ministers in Cairo.
In June, the Arab League asked satellite operators Nilesat and Arabsat to shut down Syrian TV signals.
The operators, however, continue broadcasting Syria’s anti-Damascus television channels.
The Syrian government has slammed the move as an attempt to silence the Syrians, stressing that it is in violation of media ethics.
It is believed that by removing Syrian channels from Nilesat and Arabsat, Western-backed anti-Syria channels will gain absolute control of media with regard to covering events unfolding in Syria.
Syria has been the scene of deadly unrest since mid-March, 2011 and many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.
While the West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of being behind the violence, Damascus blames ”outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups” for the unrest, insisting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on August 1 that the country is engaged in a ”crucial and heroic” battle that will determine the destiny of the nation.
Current Geo Political Developments – And reading their true goals.
The Jews could live in the Middle East – if they could just get rid of their paranoia and anti social behaviour.
Britain has already given £5 million in aid to opposition groups in Syria, and its special envoy to the Syrian opposition, John Wilks, has remained in contact with FSA members in Istanbul. Western powers continue to change the regimes of countries which cannot defend themselves and they do it too often and too brazenly.
It is strange for the Arab League, which also contains repressive monarchies and dynastic emirates, to declare one of its member-states tyrannical.
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Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey are engaged in a proxy war at the behest of the United States to destabilise Syria and change the regime in Damascus. Saudi Arabia bankrolls the insurgency, Qatar plays a role similar to the one it played in the overthrow of Muammar Qaddafi in Libya, and Turkey provides bases to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighting President Bashar al-Assad. It is incredible how the FSA irregulars inflict heavy casualties on the battle-hardened Syrian army and knock out its tanks and helicopter-gunships.
The United States, Britain and France have thrown their might behind the Syrian rebels by providing them intelligence support and sophisticated weapons. The clandestine operation going on for the last 17 months against Syria is meant to weaken the influence of Iran in the region.
The Iranian leadership refuses to acquiesce to imperial designs in the Middle East, unlike the oil-rich sheikdoms. The pattern of Western intervention in Syria is all too familiar. It is the same old pretext of weapons of mass destruction as it was in Iraq, and the same powers – mainly the US, the UK and France.
The Iraq invasion in March 2003 was fresh in people’s minds when Libya was attacked by Western forces and its leader Muammar Qaddafi lynched. The new candidate for regime change is Syria and its leader Bashar al-Assad. In Libya the opposition was the Transitional National Council (TNC), and in Syria it is the Syrian National Council (SNC). Tony Blair played out the US agenda in Iraq, and David Cameron is faithfully doing the same in Syria.
Britain has already given £5 million in aid to opposition groups in Syria, and its special envoy to the Syrian opposition, John Wilks, has remained in contact with FSA members in Istanbul. Western powers continue to change the regimes of countries which cannot defend themselves and they do it too often and too brazenly.
The recently held summit of the OIC in Mecca has suspended Syria’s membership and backed calls for arming Syrian rebels to launch offensives against Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has accused Assad of acts of repression against his own people. It is strange for the Arab League, which also contains repressive monarchies and dynastic emirates, to declare one of its member-states tyrannical. Who knows the scenario could change for the worse for Muslim countries which are now instigating rebellion in Syria.
For instance, what would happen if the Western media suddenly began to advocate the arrival of democracy in, say, Saudi Arabia, asking it to hold elections? And CNN and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, known for influencing US foreign policy, could take up the sensitive issue of emancipation of women in the ultra-conservative Saudi society and insist that Saudi Arabia granted them the right to vote. Ridding Afghan women of their blue cloak was part of the lofty agenda of the US invasion in Afghanistan, although the cloak stays when the invaders pack up to leave.
It is sad that the Muslim countries allow themselves to be part of campaigns against other Muslim countries because of sectarian prejudices. Iran has always assured Saudi Arabia and the emirates that it has no ill will towards them. Without outside support Qatar can hardly face Iran. In fact, Qatar is so vulnerable on its own that if threatened by Iran it would have to back off…
The writer is a freelance columnist based in Lahore.
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