At a time when rumors abound about a warming of American-Syrian relations, a report titled “Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence” has asserted that Iran and Syria have increased military cooperation.

“Syrian military cooperation with Iran, including trilateral cooperation with Hezbollah, has increased during the past year,” the report said. “Syria views its links to Iran as a means to press and deter adversaries, particularly Israel, and create leverage for achieving its major goals of a lead[ing] role in the Arab world, maintaining influence in Lebanon, and regaining the Golan Heights.”

Iran accelerated weapons deliveries to Syria in 2008, including shipments to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“Syrian military support to Hezbollah has increased substantially over the past five years, especially since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war,” the report said. “Damascus also supports Palestinian rejectionist groups, such as Hamas, which base their external leadership in Syria.”

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Iran has also helped enhance the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who succeeded his late father in 2000. The report said Mr. al-Assad, despite widespread dissatisfaction within Syria over the failing economy, has stabilized his regime while replacing veteran military commanders with those loyal to the president.

“For Syria’s part, Iran has proven over the last quarter century to be Syria’s most reliable ally,” the report said. “Shared interests over the past few years – support for Lebanese Hezbollah, sustaining Palestinian terrorists, and countering U.S. regional intentions – have drawn Iran and Syria toward a closer alliance.”

The report said Syria would remain involved with the al-Qaida network in neighboring Iraq. The intelligence community assessed that Mr. al-Assad would support Iraqis against any pro-U.S. government in Baghdad.

“As the United States withdraws, we assess Damascus will seek improved political and economic ties to Baghdad and is likely to support oppositionists opposed to a long-term U.S. presence in Iraq,” the report said. “Syria will remain the primary gateway for foreign fighters entering Iraq.”

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

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David Bedein
David Bedein is an MSW community organizer and an investigative journalist.   In 1987, Bedein established the Israel Resource News Agency at Beit Agron to accompany foreign journalists in their coverage of Israel, to balance the media lobbies established by the PLO and their allies.   Mr. Bedein has reported for news outlets such as CNN Radio, Makor Rishon, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, BBC and The Jerusalem Post, For four years, Mr. Bedein acted as the Middle East correspondent for The Philadelphia Bulletin, writing 1,062 articles until the newspaper ceased operation in 2010. Bedein has covered breaking Middle East negotiations in Oslo, Ottawa, Shepherdstown, The Wye Plantation, Annapolis, Geneva, Nicosia, Washington, D.C., London, Bonn, and Vienna. Bedein has overseen investigative studies of the Palestinian Authority, the Expulsion Process from Gush Katif and Samaria, The Peres Center for Peace, Peace Now, The International Center for Economic Cooperation of Yossi Beilin, the ISM, Adalah, and the New Israel Fund.   Since 2005, Bedein has also served as Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research.   A focus of the center's investigations is The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In that context, Bedein authored Roadblock to Peace: How the UN Perpetuates the Arab-Israeli Conflict - UNRWA Policies Reconsidered, which caps Bedein's 28 years of investigations of UNRWA. The Center for Near East Policy Research has been instrumental in reaching elected officials, decision makers and journalists, commissioning studies, reports, news stories and films. In 2009, the center began decided to produce short movies, in addition to monographs, to film every aspect of UNRWA education in a clear and cogent fashion.   The center has so far produced seven short documentary pieces n UNRWA which have received international acclaim and recognition, showing how which UNRWA promotes anti-Semitism and incitement to violence in their education'   In sum, Bedein has pioneered The UNRWA Reform Initiative, a strategy which calls for donor nations to insist on reasonable reforms of UNRWA. Bedein and his team of experts provide timely briefings to members to legislative bodies world wide, bringing the results of his investigations to donor nations, while demanding reforms based on transparency, refugee resettlement and the demand that terrorists be removed from the UNRWA schools and UNRWA payroll.   Bedein's work can be found at: www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com and www.cfnepr.com. A new site,unrwa-monitor.com, will be launched very soon.