Israel is concerned that Syria will become a haven for terrorists with access to chemical weapons

Boaz Bismuth and Israel Hayom Staff

Western military intervention in war-torn Syria would result in a regional crisis that “engulfs the Zionist regime,” Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said on Wednesday, in an explicit threat to Israel.

Laranjani, a close adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made the remarks in a speech during a session of parliament on Wednesday, in response to calls from some Western officials for action in Syria to stop the bloodshed in the more than year-long popular uprising.

“U.S. military officials have a poor understanding of themselves and of regional issues because Syria is in no way similar to Libya,” Larijani said. The effects of “creating another Benghazi in Syria would spread to Palestine, and ash rising from the flames would engulf the Zionist regime.”

He accused the U.S. and the West of “seeking to pave the way for a new crisis.”

“The Majlis [parliament] supports democratic reforms in Syria that will help uphold the people’s rights, condemns terrorist actions and opportunistic interference by certain countries in Syria,” he said, according to the Tehran Times. Referring to military intervention, he warned the U.S. that “it may seem easy to embark on such an act of adventurism, but it will definitely be difficult to end it.”

An Israeli government official responded to Laranjani’s remarks on Thursday, accusing Iran of trying to control the Middle East, while supporting mass murder in Syria. “One can only imagine what would happen if Iran possessed nuclear weapons,” the official said, according to Israel Radio.

Laranjani also mentioned the international condemnation of Syria’s human rights abuses, which he said impedes progress in solving the country’s problems. His remarks were apparently a response to French President Francois Hollande’s threat to use military force against Assad and the regime in Syria following the massacre in Houla that took place last weekend. That attack left at least 116 people dead — a third of whom were said to be children — and wounded at least 300 others. Hollande said France would resort to military force if the U.N. Security Council approved the move.

Meanwhile, OC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Yair Golan said on Wednesday that the IDF is preparing for a scenario in which al-Qaida terrorists could use Syrian territory as a base from which to launch attacks against Israel.

Speaking at a conference marking the 30th anniversary of the First Lebanon War at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University, Golan said events in Syria could leave parts of the country vulnerable. According to Golan, terrorist groups like al-Qaida could exploit the situation and launch attacks against Israel from across the Syrian border.

Golan said Syria was heading for collapse and would become a “warehouse of weapons” for Islamist militants as it descended into chaos.

“Syria is in civil war, which will lead to a failed state, and terrorism will blossom in it,” he said. “Syria has a big arsenal.”

The Arab republic’s stock of mainly Russian-made weapons includes surface-to-air missiles, surface-to-surface missiles and marine missiles. It also possesses chemical weapons, which Syria never used in its wars against Israel but that could be attractive weapons for militants, the general said.

“The risk to Israel is taking shape,” said Golan. “The challenge we are facing is a huge one.”

Golan said the IDF was “deeply engaged in getting ready, with plans and physical means” along the borders. He did not offer details.

It was very difficult to forecast how Syria would break up, Golan said. It could be effectively “cantonized” by the conflict that has raged for 14 months since President Bashar al-Assad turned his army on protesters.

Golan said Assad’s ally Iran was trying hard to help the president stay in power, and Iran’s Lebanese ally, the Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah, was a very determined enemy of Israel and had “no intention of letting us off easily.”

Hezbollah “feels obligated to their guardian [Iran] and when needed it is going to do what Iran is interested in,” he said.

If Hezbollah were to attack, however, it could expect massive retaliation which would not be limited to Israeli air power, Golan said. Reliance on air power alone was “a hallucination.”

In the event of a third Lebanon war, Golan said, the IDF would aim to “set back the next threat for a long time by hitting them [Hezbollah] very hard so they won’t feel like engaging us again for many, many years.”

In February, al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who became head of the organization after Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan last May, said in a video recording that Syrians should not rely on the West or Arab governments to topple Assad.

In the eight-minute video, entitled “Onwards, Lions of Syria” and posted on an Islamist website, the Egyptian-born Zawahiri also urged Muslims in Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan to come to the aid of Syrian rebels confronting Assad’s forces.

Assad’s regime has long blamed terrorists for the revolt, and al-Qaida’s endorsement of the opposition created difficulties for Western and Arab states trying to figure out a way to help force Assad out of power.

Meanwhile, activists said Syrian troops were shelling the central Houla area where more than 100 people were massacred last week. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees activist groups say Thursday’s shelling of Houla was mostly by heavy machine guns.