US Signals ‘Heavy Blockade’ on Syria

In a speech she made to the US Senate yesterday, Rice said that Syria is a definitely a big problem and called on the international community to unite against what Syria has been doing. She said Syria is using its own territory and southern Lebanon to support terrorism. US President George W. Bush has also said that Syria would benefit from giving up its self-isolation from the international community and said they will try to work with the Europeans to convince Syria to make "rational decisions." Bush asked Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon and allow free and fair elections. Although US officials have not accused Syria openly; they have implied that Syria was behind the recent assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The Washington Post published an article about US plans to implement a series of operations on Syria. The Hariri assassination has stimulated different strategies for Syria within the US administration. Freezing Syrian assets in the US, breaking its contact with banks in the US, tightening diplomatic sanctions, forcing it to withdraw from Lebanon, obstructing its support of terrorism, and ending Syria’s support of Iraqi insurgents within its territories are among the strategies being planned, according to the Post.

Following an announcement that Iran and Syria have formed a common front against the US, Iranian President Mohammed Khatemi said the Tehran and Damascus administrations share the same open and closed positions on international and regional issues. Former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani also noted at a meeting with Syrian Prime Minister Naci Itri that the strengthening of relations among Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and other Islamic countries in the region is greatly significant.