Syria has become the starting point for East-West cold war:Iran`s Velayati

TEHRAN,July 7(MNA) – Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader said that a cold war has started between the Eastern front, spearheaded by Russia and China, and the Western front, led by the United States. The developments occurring in the country have become the starting point for the cold war, Velayati said in a televised program broadcast live on Iranian television on Thursday night. “What happened in Syria was unprecedented in the region,” he said, adding, “We are witnessing that Syria, which is not a large country but holds an extremely critical and geopolitical position (in the region), is facing the West’s massive conspiracies.” Velayati, a former foreign minister, went on to say that after the breakout of uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa region, the Western countries, especially the United States, and Israel tried to take advantage of any opportunity to manipulate the events in Syria to make up for their losses in North Africa, an indirect reference to the rise of Islamists in Egypt after the toppling of the Hosni Mubarak regime. Mubarak was a close friend of the U.S. and Israel. “For this reason, various countries and groups with different attitudes have united to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,” he stated. He said that Syria is “the golden ring of the resistance chain” against the Zionist regime and the main reason behind the fact that Syria has been the target of criticism is the country’s resistance against Israel.