Are Ahmadinejad and his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, teaming up to build an alliance of sympathetic governments?
20 January 2006 (RFE/RL) — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on 19 January expressed support for Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities and accused the West of failing to supply any logical argument for denying Iran nuclear technology. “We support the right of Iran and states in the world to acquire peaceful [nuclear] technology,” al-Assad said. “Until now, countries that oppose this have given no convincing reason. If there is a reason, they should start with Israel because it is the only one in the Middle East that owns a nuclear arsenal.” President Ahmadinejad described Syria as “the steadfast party confronting Israel” and Iran as “the defender of Islamic vigilance.” He said those roles oblige those two countries to have more understanding and cooperation. Tehran and Damascus have been allies for years. Syria was the only Arab country that assisted during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War. Both countries are accused by the United States of sponsoring terrorism and disrupting the Middle East pea
