Obama aide: End of Assad regime will serve severe blow to Iran By Natasha Mozgovaya

Obama aide: End of Assad regime will serve severe blow to Iran National Security Advisor Tom Donilon says no option off the table in dealing with Iran's nuclear program, adding that Islamic Republic's isolation is causing rifts in Tehran regime. By Natasha Mozgovaya The toppling of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime would serve a serious blow to Iran and would serve to further isolate the Islamic Republic, a top U.S. official said on Tuesday, adding that change in Syria was "inevitable." President Barack Obama's National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, speaking a day after the United States announced new measures against Iran over its nuclear program, said that "end of the Assad regime would constitute Iran’s greatest setback in the region yet—a strategic blow that will further shift the balance of power in the region against Iran." Referring to the new set of Iran sanctions, which mainly targeted the country's energy sector, Donilon said that Washington was "certainly not ruling out additional steps against Iran’s banking sector, including the Central Bank. As we do all this, we are not taking any options off the table. No one should doubt that." "Even as Tehran continues to engage in dangerous and destabilizing behavior, Iran today is fundamentally weaker, more isolated, more vulnerable and badly discredited than ever," the top Obama aide said, saying that "tremendous pressure at home" was causing divisions between the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Speaking on the little backing Iran receives in the region, Donilon said that Iran was "basically down to just two principal remaining allies—the Assad clique in Syria and Hezbollah." "And, like Iran, they too are fundamentally at odds with the democratic forces now sweeping the region. The Assad regime is thoroughly isolated and universally condemned. The Arab League, appalled by the regime’s brutality, has shown remarkable leadership and taken the extraordinary step of suspending Syria’s membership," he added.