Syrian MP Anas Al-Shami Slams Iran in Parliament for Refraining from Implementing Joint Defense Agreement

In a June 8 session of the Syrian parliament, MP Anas Al-Shami criticized Iran for not implementing the joint defense agreement between the two countries, and helping Syria only with supplies and experts. Al-Shami added that the Syrian people has been fighting Iran's proxy war for three decades, and that the time has come for Iran "to repay the debt."

Following are excerpts:

Anas Al-Shami: Are we not supposed to rise to the level of the situation, which has made us lose sleep? The question should be asked: Is this a crisis government? Is this a war government? Is it functioning proportionate to the scale of blood shed by the martyrs? Is it functioning proportionate to the pain and suffering of the Syrian citizens? Of course, it Is not. A thousand times no!

Are you pleased with yourselves, gentlemen? Have mercy upon people, and He in the Heavens will have mercy upon you. The people who deserve mercy for the most are the ones who are closest to you, the sons of the country to which you belong. Some are hungry, some are in need, some suffer injustice and oppression, some are sick, and some are displaced. They ask: Where are the officials of the state? I won't ask the media about its lies, and judiciary about his corruption, the economy about its failures, or the whereabouts of the missing funds. I will not ask some ministers who do not dare answer their phones.

I won't go into details, gentlemen, because the Devil is in the detail. We need to close our ranks, in our confrontation with the Great Satan and its ISIS, Jabhat Al-Nusra, and the treacherous Muslim Brotherhood. We want to reach a safe haven, but we have strayed from the path. A ship cannot sail on dry land. With your permission, deal colleagues, I shall turn to politics. We are facing the Tatars and unbelievers of our time, with the heroes of our great army and its commander, Bashar Al-Assad. But the citizens ask: Where are our friends and allies?

Susan Rice, the ambassador of the Great Satan [in the U.N.], addressed the leader of this nation, Dr. Bashar Al-Assad, saying that if he wants to go back to the situation before March 2011, he must give up Iran and Hizbullah. Hence, we are waging a proxy war, by standing in the ranks of the resistance camp, and opposing the enterprise of global Zionism. We have paid dearly in blood, money, and history.

What is the position of our friend and ally [Iran] about the joint defense agreement? When will this agreement be implemented, if not today? For three decades, the great Syrian people and the Syrian government have sacrificed – for the sake of their friends in the Islamic Republic of Iran – its money, its blood, and its equipment. When will [the Iranians] repay this debt?

Are we supposed to make do with logistic support, experts, and money? No, Mr. Speaker. As an MP and a servant of the Syrian people, I demand that the joint defense agreement be implemented. I ask my dear colleagues to support me in this demand, by sending a letter, through the president's office, to the Iranian Shura Council, demanding the implementation of the join defense agreement, especially since our enemies, from day one, have claimed that our [Iranians] friends and allies are the ones fighting in Syria, ignoring the fact that France, one of the eight superpowers in the world, has crossed from Europe to Africa, in order to protect the regime in Mali, without going through the U.N. Security Council.

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