>> SMITH: From the start, Iran
backed Assad.
>> Syria has really been Iran's
only continuous ally since the
1979 revolution.
And when the uprisings began,
the Iranian regime was
determined to do all in their
power, both financially and
militarily, to prevent the Assad
regime from collapsing.
>> SMITH: Back in 2011, inspired
by the Arab Spring, protests
began against the Assad regime.
(chanting)
>> The first six to ten month
of the uprising, this was truly
a civil uprising.
(man speaking on loudspeaker)
That was motivated by the rest
of the Arab uprising-- the need
for political participation,
asking for freedom, reining in
the security services of the
Syrian regime.
And it was led by a fairly
nonviolent civil movement of
students, laborers, villagers.
(singing):
And then, I think what happened
is, a decision was made by Assad
regime that, "We are not going
to negotiate."
(loud explosion)
(screaming, shouting)
>> New deadly violence in Syria.
Army security forces fired on
peaceful protesters.
The government denies anyone was
killed.
>> SMITH: Once the violence
began, Iran sent in money,
weapons, and military advisers
from the IRGC to help Assad
crush the protests.
>> In Syria, violence and
protests.
Will the government there
buckle?
>> SMITH: The official line both
here and in Iran is that the
uprising in 2011 was really a
foreign plot.
Was there never a popular
revolution in the first month...
>> No.
>> SMITH: ...or weeks.
Second-in-command at Syria's
Foreign Ministry is Faisal
Mekdad.
>> I know what happened.
It was a prepared--
pre-fabricated scenario of what
will happen.
Since the beginning, we have
said that this is a war against
Muslim fanatics.
(shouting in unison)
>> SMITH: In fact, armed
opposition to Assad grew
gradually, and was made up of
many different groups backed by
many countries.
>> You had Saudi Arabia, who was
an important patron.
You had Qatar, who was an
important patron.
U.A.E., to a lesser extent, was
a patron.
You had Turkey, who was a
patron.
You had the United States, who
was a patron.
You had the E.U., who was a
patron.
Everybody is giving money to
different people.
Everybody is giving different
types of weapons to different
groups.
(explosions, rapid gunfire)
>> SMITH: The Saudi Arabian
government supported two
hardline Sunni Islamist groups.
You paid millions of dollars
into groups like Ahrar al-Sham
and Jaysh al-Islam...
>> And who are Ahrar al-Sham?
And who is Jaysh al-Islam?
They're Syrians.
They're Syrians being killed by
whom?
They're being killed by
Iranians.
So we're giving them the means
to defend themselves.
(gunfire)
We support the Syrian people.
The Iranians are killing the
Syrian people.
That's the difference between
us.
(rapid gunfire)
