Former Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam said that his successor's criticism of Saudi Arabia was part of Damascus' policy of cutting links with Arab states and moving closer to Iran. "(Vice-President Farouk) Sharaa's remarks are part of the policy pursued by the ruling clique, which aims at severing Syrian links with the Arab world and tying it further to Iran's regional strategy," Khaddam told the Saudi daily Al-Watan from his Paris exile.
Khaddam, who stepped down as Syrian vice president in 2005 to join the opposition, stated that the Syrian regime's "campaign against Saudi Arabia" should be seen in the context of Iran's regional strategy and Syria's role in it. This is because Saudi Arabia "constitutes one of the main obstacles to Iranian hegemony in the region, be it in the Gulf, Iraq, Palestine or Lebanon," he said, according to the newspaper.
Khaddam was commenting on the row sparked by Shara's criticizm of the Saudi kingdom. On its part, Riyadh has reacted with a fierce attack on the Syrian official, accusing him of making false statements and seeking to "stoke disorder in the region" after he claimed that Riyadh's regional role has become paralyzed.
