Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now...
for his "resistance" after seven years of war.
"Syria is on the front lines today; it is our duty to defend the Syrian resistance," Khamenei was quoted on his official website.
"Bashir al-Assad, the Syrian president, appeared as a great example of resistance and a fighting image; he never hesitated and stood strong: this is extremely important for a nation," he added.
Khamenei also hailed Iran's survival as it enters the 40th year since the revolution. "From day one, all major world powers united and acted against us: the United States, USSR, NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and structure....
, Arab and regional reactionaries ‐ they all united. But we survived and prospered."
Addressing Assad, he said, "If you and we, and other elements of resistance stay determined, the enemy cannot accomplish a single thing".
The resistance, according to Iran, is made up of Iran, Syria, the Lebanese hard boy group Hezbollah, Iraqi militias and Paleostinian groups. Iran is the main regional ally of the Syrian regime, which is also supported by Russia.
Khamenei's statement comes a day after the EU urged Iran, Russia and
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
to do what they can to get the Syrian government to halt its offensive in the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta to let aid enter and civilians evacuate.
On Saturday the United Nations
...an organization conceived in the belief that we're just one big happy world, with the sort of results you'd expect from such nonsense...
Security Council passed a resolution calling for a 30-day ceasefire across Syria without delay, but it has yet to take effect. Russia and Syria set up a humanitarian corridor for the entry of aid and for civilians to leave Eastern Ghouta for five hours each day, but violence has continued with the regime and rebels blaming each other.