Politician fears Iran may be double crossed by ‘untrustworthy’ Russia, Syria

A member of the Iranian parliament has expressed concerns over being double crossed by Russia and Syria. Speaking before the start of the regular meeting of Iranian parliament on Wednesday, Behrouz Bonyadi from a faction known as Hope, said Bashar Al-Assad of Syria and Vladimir Putin of Russia will “soon sacrifice us” to Israel and the US.

During his remark reported by Radio Farda, an Iranian branch of the US government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Bonyadi said: “Bashar Al-Assad, with full impudence, has cozied up to Putin,” adding “Russia will not be a trustworthy friend for us.”

Bonyadi, whose party is thought to represent a reformist agenda, went on to accused Russia of “betrayal” in the latest OPEC meeting in which Riyadh and Moscow agreed to increase production against the wishes of Iran. Expressing his disappointment Bonyadi said Russia was “oblivious to the fact that in politics today…there are no permanent friends or enemies.”

Read: Iran says it supports Russian efforts to bring south Syria under army control

Iran and Russia have been staunch allies of Al-Assad in the Syrian civil war and prevented the fall of his regime. Thousands of Iranian troops have been killed in the war and lately Israel has been bombing positions occupied by Iranian forces and their ally, Lebanese Hezbollah, in Syria. In addition, Iran has provided billions of dollars in economic and military aid to Al-Assad.