Broader cooperation seen in Mideast outeside Washington's control: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with James Jatras, a former US Senate foreign policy analyst, about Russia using Iranian airspace for conducting airstrikes against terrorists in Syria.

Here is a rough transcription of the interview:

Press TV: Is it so much that Russia is using Iran’s airspace that is irking the West perhaps or that there is a big deal made out of this or is it the fact that it is Russia spreading its military wing in the region with Iran being in the equation as viewed by the West?  

Jatras: I think it is a bit of both and I think it has to be put into the context of the larger trend in the region. Remember that when the Russians use a space that means also the cooperation of Iraq because that country’s territory is being over flown. We have got the indications that Turkey is moving closer to Moscow and Tehran, we have got the offer from President Saleh of Yemen for the Russians to use bases there, we have got the Chinese beginning to give support to Syria, it seems what we are seeing now is a much broader cooperation in the Eurasian, Middle Eastern space outside of the control of Washington and of course from here we are going to see a lot of people who are upset by this, not fully realizing, it seems to me, that this is the result of a stubborn and misguided American policy of supporting Wahhabist terrorists in the region connected to Saudi Arabia and until we understand that, we are going to see events slip more and more out of the influence of the United States.  

Press TV: Well I am not too sure if US’s recent announcement that is pulling some of its personnel out of Yemen in its support for the Saudi war, whether that is a sign of maybe Washington understanding of what is going on when it comes to Saudi Arabia and its war on Yemen in particular, but what is the US to do now given the fact that you are seeing these types of maneuvers - well I shouldn’t say maneuvers but Russian presence - in countries in the region?

Jatras: Well I think there are two different questions - what shall we do and what will we do. What we should do is change course, is stop supporting these terrorist elements and to reach out other countries in the region particularly to Russia that are battling the terrorists which we claim is our number one priority. I unfortunately do not think that is going to happen.

I am afraid what we will be seeing is doubling down on our support for the wrong elements that you mentioned in your leading story of supplying heavy weapons to Saudi Arabia, we are seeing the whole human cry in our media here over the Aleppo story which is designed to somehow rescue al-Qaeda and the other terrorist groups under some pressure on Aleppo and I do not think they have gotten the memo yet.

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