The Guardian The Guardian published an article today titled "Syria receiving
Iranian arms 'almost daily' via Iraq". The Guardian claims that Iran
has been using civilian aircraft to fly military personnel and large
quantities of weapons across Iraqi airspace to Syria to aid President
Bashar al-Assad in his attempt to crush an 18-month uprising against
his government, referring to a Western intelligence report publicized
by Reuters. "Planes are flying from Iran to Syria via Iraq on an
almost daily basis, carrying IRGC (Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps)
personnel and tens of tonnes of weapons to arm the Syrian security
forces and militias fighting against the rebels," the Guardian quotes
the report.
Iraq has challenged the findings of that western intelligence report
by denying that Iranian aircraft have flown over its airspace to
supply weapons and soldiers to Syria, the newspaper adds.
The Guardian adds that President Bashar al-Assad has told the Iranian
foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, that the war engulfing his country
threatens not just Syria, but also Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah. According
to the Guardian, Salehi called for countries in the
region "that can play a role" to get involved and act as "one big
regional family of nations" over the Syrian crisis.
