In the shadow of catastrophe: ‘The bet on Iran was a disaster for the Syrians’

“Syria is to blame for the difficult situation that befell the residents under the earthquake disaster.”

By Baruch Yedid, TPS

An official in a Syrian rebel organization blamed the Assad regime for the nation’s current woes and for adding to the suffering of its people in the wake of the massive earthquake in the region on Monday. The official told TPS in a telephone conversation, “Syria is to blame for the difficult situation that befell the residents under the earthquake disaster.”

The Syrian regime is now working on a new diplomatic campaign to have the sanctions currently imposed on the country lifted – while hiding its responsibility for the current difficult situation in the country during the civil war. Syria’s infrastructure has been destroyed, and the civil aid organizations working there have been made a target, in the eyes of the Assad regime, for violence.

The campaign has already begun on social media calling for the lifting of sanctions on the country due to the deadly earthquake that has claimed the lives of thousands.

Syrian residents are tweeting hashtags such as “remove the sanctions,” and “save Syria,” demanding that the world make a show of humanity now and not “play” politics.

The Syrian source also told TPS, “The bet on Iran [by Syria] in the shadow of the (earthquake) disaster was revealed as a seriously failed bet.”

Meanwhile, on various Syrian media networks, government-sanctioned correspondents write reports with claims such as, “Syria is finding it difficult to operate the hospitals due to the lack of medicine and fuel materials, and this is due to Caesar’s law imposed by the United States in 2020, which prohibits any cooperation with Bashar Assad’s Syria.”

On social networks, people can see photos in which the skies of Syria are seen to be free of air traffic while thousands of flights take off and land in Turkish territories. This, it is claimed, is due to the international sanctions and represents how difficult it will be for Syria to receive any aid in the wake of the earthquake disaster.

But it belies the simple fact that any planeload of aid sent to the people of Syria, along with aid workers and medical professionals, would certainly be allowed to enter the country, with or without international sanctions.

Also, the Syrian regime uses social networks and its own media to allege that Arab countries content themselves with statements of solidarity and pledges to send aid while flights holding supplies and aid are going only to Turkey.

In these campaigns, Syrian residents, especially in the affected areas, cry out for help and say that “the Arab rulers who only express solidarity with us and avoid real help are no better than Bashar Assad.”