Officials from Syria and Iran have signed a $1 billion credit facility agreement that will allow Syrian importers to purchase Iranian supplies without the need for a direct cash transfer, reported the Financial Times on Wednesday, giving a much-needed boost to Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which remains beleaguered by economic and social unrest.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani on Saturday repeated a call to fellow Gulf States for joint military intervention in Syria, insisting that diplomatic efforts should not be given more than one month to succeed, following 21 months of deadly unrest, which have claimed the lives of over 60,000 Syrians.
Russia may be discreetly propping up Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria by helping to print bank notes that pays for Assad’s soldiers and civil servants, claimed investigative website ProPublica on Monday, citing flight records, which detailed cargo shipment from Moscow’s Vnukovo airport to Damascus international airport via Iran and/or Iraq.
Syria will need at least $60 billion in external assistance to rebuild its infrastructure once the regime of President Bashar al-Assad falls, said a leading opposition figure on Wednesday, as rebels continue to fight to unite opposition-held areas before a ‘final push’ towards the capital Damascus.
Iran has begun construction on a 225km pipeline that will take 20-25 million cubic meters of natural gas per day from the Persian Gulf to Syria via Iraq, reported the semi-official Fars News Agency on Monday.
The announcement came just after a pledge from Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, who had promised to do everything in his power to help the Syrian people and government restore peace and tranquillity to their country.
China and Russia believe they were “duped” to allow for military intervention in Libya, said former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan on Wednesday, and they are now “very hesitant” to intervene in Syria.
As rebels attempt to regroup in advance of a new strategy to overpower Assad, and Western powers try to start from scratch with a new rebel formation that is presumably devoid of Salafi Jihadists, the US is calling on third party, non-state actors to arm the rebels in order to avoid becoming embroiled in a geopolitically sensitive conflict just ahead of presidential elections. As attentions turn to the chaos breaking out across the Middle East and North Africa (and even further afield), what chance do the rebels have of pushing Assad to his limits?
Syria has refused to grant entry visas for Western aid workers despite the escalating humanitarian crisis, said a senior U.N. official to Reuters on Monday, with an estimated 1.5 Syrians now believed to be in desperate need of food and medical assistance.
The Deputy Oil Minister of Syria, Abdo Hussameldin, has resigned from his government post to join the rebel movement against President Bashar al-Assad, reported Reuters on Thursday, after Hussameldin posted a video on YouTube to announce his defection.
Hussameldin, who was appointed to his role by Assad in 2009, looked relaxed as he spoke directly into a camera, while wearing a suit and a tie.
After World War II, Syria expanded from a primarily agricultural base to manufacturing of handicrafts, textiles and flour mills. Factories were established in the 50s and 60s which processed local agriculture and manufactured light consumer products.
