Relations between Washington and Damascus have been strained further since 2003 as Syria, a close ally of Iran, strongly objected the U.S. invasion of Iraq and blamed the US for turbulence in the country.
On the contrary, the United States has been accusing Syria of supporting Palestinian and Iraqi "terror" organizations and doing little to stop weapons and militants from infiltrating into Iraq and destabilizing the situation there.
Last week, Syria and the United States held rare high level talks on the sideline of an international meeting on Iraqi security at an Egyptian Red Sea resort despite the tense relations. The talks dealt with both how to help Iraq regain security and stability, including the issue of infiltrated militants on the Syrian-Iraqi border alleged by the United States, and bilateral relations between Washington and Damascus.
These talks were not welcomed by Iran. According to the London-based al Hayat newspaper, Iranian officials said that Tehran is unhappy with the Syrian move towards the US, specifically the recent meeting between Walid al-Mu'allim, Syrian Foreign Minister and Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State in Sharm el-Sheikh.
According to the sources, Iran believes the Bush administration tries to create a rift between Iranian and Syrian stands on Middle Eastern issues. Tehran believes that additional Syrian steps towards DC will weaken Damascus' position.
The newspaper also indicated that Iran was unhappy with the Syrian behavior during Damascus' recent reception of the US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Syrian stands expressed at the latest Arab summit in Riyadh.
According to the Iranians, the size of the concessions that Syria made in return for promises of normalizing relations between themselves and several Arab leaders, and the international tribunal for trying the killers of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri, were "too much."
Now, it remains to be seen if further rapprochement between the USA and Syria can hinder the latter's close relations with Iran.
