Syria and Iran - How to Thumb Your Nose at Washington

Last week's press conference in Jerusalem starring John Bolton, the man who never saw a war that he didn't love, provided the world with a glimpse of his strategy toward Syria and Iran, two nations that stand in the way of his version of American hegemony.  

Let's start by looking at the press conference which was held on August 22, 2018 at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem.  If you want to get his thoughts on Iran and Syria, please start at the 9 minute mark and follow through his stream of consciousness about both nations:

Obviously, one of Washington's greatest concerns in Syria is the presence of Iran.  While the United States continues to operate in Syria as an uninvited guest, now that the pro-Assad Syrians have managed to free much of their nation from the scourge of a seven plus year-long civil war, it looks like America's worst nightmare for its Middle East plans are coming to fruition.

This, on top of the recent warning to the Assad regime about the use of chemical weapons as shown here:

...would tend to show that Washington (not to forget about Israel) is getting rather anxious about what lies ahead for one of its most reviled government leaders, Bashar al-Assad, an avowed ally of Vladimir Putin's.  As such, Russia has warned that there is a significant possibility that terrorists with the assistance of UK Special Services will launch a chemical attack which will serve as a pretext for missile strikes by the United States and its allies in the region as shown in this news article from TASS:

Nikolai Patrushev, the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, has also received a warning from Bolton that the United States will hit Assad if he is deemed to use chemical weapons at an August 23 meeting held in Geneva

Now, let's look at how Iran and Syria are handling the growing threats from the United States.  According to Tansim News, Iran's private news network, Iran and Syria have recently signed a military co-operation deal as shown here:

Here's what was reported about the relationship between Iran and Syria by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA):

....and here is Syria's coverage of the threats by the United States against Syria and Russia:

Lastly, here's what was reported by the Syria Times regarding a meeting between Bashar al-Assad and Iran's Defense Minister Amir Hatami and their moves toward "...strengthening the counterterrorism axis as to confront the US subversive policies...":

Notice that Iran's Hatami has pledged his support for maintaining Syria's sovereignty and independence from foreign intervention, exactly what Washington does not want to hear.

As you can see, Syria has every intention of continuing its relationship with Iran no matter what Washington and Israel may desire, thumbing their respective noses at the United States.  The fact that Iran was invited to the Syrian civil war "party" and the United States was not seems to have been totally forgotten by Washington in its haste for regime change in the Syrian Arab Republic.  I guess that America's global hegemony just isn't what it used to be.