Syrian President Bashar al Assad feared the increase of Democrats in the US Parliament and began preparing for a potential radical shift in US foreign policy towards Syria, said Syrian foreign minister on Thursday.
Syria was afraid that the rise of Republicans could mount pressure on US President Obama to launch military strikes against the regime army’s installations in Syria and has asked Russia to speed up the delivery of a powerful air defense system and advanced weapons, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said in an interview with Lebanon’s al-Akhbar newspaper.
While the US pledges that the bombings against ISIL would not affect the Syrian army, we still feel the need to prepare ourselves in case of being targeted, he added.
As per an Alarabiya Report, Syrian foreign minister further said “Do we trust this commitment? For now, we realize that President Barack Obama, for domestic reasons, wants to avoid war with Syria,” he told the newspaper.
“However, we do not know how Obama will act under this growing pressure, and the pressure will only rise if the Republicans achieve a majority in the U.S. mid-term elections.”
“So, we have to be ready. This is what we have explained frankly to the Russians, and asked them to take advantage of the situation and provide us with advanced weapons,” he said.
An S-300 Surface to Air Missile Defense System, Photo Via Eferl.
Reporters asked Syrian Foreign Minister, if he was referring to Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, which Syria has long sought from Russia. He replied: “Yes, and other advanced weapons.”
Photo Via RIA Novosti/Valery Melnikov.
