This may be more of an empty gesture than a substantial alliance.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satelli...cle%2FShowFull
Iran, Syria sign mutual defense pact
Dec 12, 2009
Iran and Syria signed a defense agreement on Friday, according to an Iranian Press TV report.
The document, signed by Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi and his Syrian counterpart Ali Mohammad Habib Mahmoud, aimed to face "common enemies and challenges," the report said....
....In a Wall Street Journal interview published on Friday, White House National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones said that "Iran still controls its destiny on [the nuclear] issue." The door to the diplomatic process would "stay open as long as we could leave it open… but it's not going to stay open much longer."
...."As long as there's an open question on both of those issues, then Iran is just asking the world to trust them," Jones stated.
"They think they can withstand anything the UN or the coalition of like-minded nations can put together. They might be right. They might be wrong."
"If Iran pivots and does the right thing, whether it's December 30 or January 20, that's what everybody wants," he concluded....
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A little context:
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1134575.html
ANALYSIS / Iran trying to maintain momentum of dialogue
By Zvi Bar'el
Last update - 00:00 13/12/2009
....While the Iranian foreign minister is clarifying Iran's room for flexibility, Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi last week signed a military pact with Syria. In practical terms, this step is nothing new. Iran and Syria signed a strategic cooperation pact in 2006, without detailing what it would include, and another military agreement in 2007. Trade between Iran and Syria comes to about $350 million a year, and Iran's investments in Syria are about $2 billion a year.....