Which begs a key question, namely, what makes the normally cautious Shiite leaderships in Tehran and Lebanon lump their fate with that of a decidedly nefarious regime which everyone knows will sooner or later find itself in the dustbin of history?

With all political probabilities thoroughly examined, one is really  affronted by a single outstanding dimension. It is the sectarian dimension.

Iran and Hezbollah may not be particularly infatuated with the Assad regime per se. It is a regime whose very essence goes against the most fundamental principles of Shiism. For example, the cultic Alawite dynasty, which disguises itself under the camouflage of the Baath Socialist Party, is brashly  anti-Islamic. It discourages rather vehemently all religious expressions such as the hijab. A pagan and clearly un-Islamic form of Arab nationalism has been the official religion of the Assad regime.

Nidal Naiesa, an Alawite writer and stalwart supporter of the Assad regime, on many occasion referred to Islam as "a primitive Bedouin desert culture devoid of civility and humanity."

The religious-political Shiite leadership, e.g. Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah and Ali Khomenei of Iran also knows well that the anthropomorphic Alawite faith is nearly totally incompatible with even the basic tenets of Shiite Islam, as most Alawites believe that Ali Ibn Abi Taleb, the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law,  is God-incarnate.

Traditional Shiites pride themselves on rejecting all notions of "Tajseed" or attributing to God human attributes.

Finally, most Shiites should also be aware of the Assad regime's criminal credentials, which instantly prompts many unsuspecting observers to raise their eyebrows in surprise and disgust.

So, what lies behind the notoriously dark embrace between the clerical regime in Tehran and Hezbollah on the one hand and the aggressively secular Baathist regime in Damascus on the other?

Iran and Hezbollah cite the common stance against Israel and the United States. But this is largely a red herring to keep the Alawite minority in power for as long as possible at the expense of the vast majority of the Syrian people who are Sunni Muslims.

After all, the Syrian regime never fired a single bullet at Israel, which has occupied the Golan Heights, since 1973. Instead, its bullets, rockets, bombs and airplanes were repeatedly used to murder Palestinians, Lebanese and now Syrian men, women and children in the tens of thousands. Does anyone still remember Tel El-Zaater and Hama?

This should bring us to the crux of the matter. The main and central reason behind Iran's and Hezbollah's dark and murderous embrace of the Assad regime has mainly  to do with the immense hatred the Twelver Shiites (who follow the twelve god-like imams or saints) harbour for Sunni Muslims.

I hate to sound  sectarian, but this is the truth of the matter and one must never betray one's conscience, however unpopular one's opinion may be.

This means that Iran and its poodles in the Arab world, e.g. Hezbollah, hate Sunni Muslims more than they love the Assad regime. This says it all.

True, Iran did support some Sunni Islamic movements such as Hamas, but that was no more than a calculated ruse to encourage the propagation of Shiism in Palestine, an effort  that has been thwarted thanks to the vigilance of Palestinian Islamists.

I don't know if it is too late for Iran to revert to its senses. There are those who argue that it is never too late to stop walking in the path of evil. This is what the Iranian leadership should do immediately.

But I am afraid the Iranian leadership has been thoroughly blinded by its sectarian short-sightedness and fanatical animosity toward other Muslims, which makes that leadership prefer a Shiite devil over the most heavenly Sunni saint.

Iran may not spell out this discourse brazenly enough in its media for public relations considerations. Instead, it lets the Shiite cutthroats, including members of its own revolutionary guards, do the dirty work in the streets  of Damascus, Aleppo, Deraa, Homs, and Hama.

There, these beasts walking on two legs decapitate Syrian children and rape Syrian women and then shout  rather hysterically Hussein! Mahdi! Abbas! and Ali!

The  murderous thugs, brainwashed into thinking they are avenging the death of Imam Hussein more than 1300 years ago, are actually the Shiites of Iblis (the devil), not the Shiites of Mohamed or the Shiites of Hussein.

The true Shiites of Mohamed (peace be upon him) don't support a visibly diabolical regime that murders its citizens en masse, showers its own cities with bombs and missiles and tells the people of Syria: "Either Bashar Al-Assad stays in power, or I will burn Syria in a huge firestorm."

It is the Shiites of Iblis who do this, even though the criminals may claim to be Shiites of Mohamed.

The true Shiites of Mohamed don't converge on Sunni villages and hamlets at night, raping and murdering girls and women in full view of their relatives and husbands, in order to humiliate them. Only the Shiites of Iblis would do such an abomination.

The Shiites of Mohmed don't bomb the minarets of  the mosques in Syria, sanctuaries where people should find safety and peace. It is only the Shiites of Iblis who commit this sort of sacrilege.

The Shiites of Mohamed don't plant explosives in churches and mosques in order to foment sectarian violence  and war in Lebanon, as the Syrian regime tried to do recently, using a former Lebanese official.  It is only the Shiites of Iblis who indulge in such a  murderous outrage.

The Shiites of Mohamed don't burn the homes, fields and orchards and everything else in order to keep a murderous tyrant in power in order to inflict maximum physical damage and  emotional pain on Muslims seeking freedom from the tyranny and oppression of the hateful Alawite dynasty.

Unfortunately, nearly all bridges between the Shiite minority and Sunni Muslims throughout the Arab world have been demolished. One would have to be hopelessly blind to deny this fact.

Needless to say, the reconstruction of these bridges will take many decades as the Shiite-perpetrated genocide against the Sunni population of Syria will leave indelible scars in the hearts and minds of generations to come.

Nevertheless, Sunni Muslims, peoples and states alike, will have to draw the necessary lessons from the Syrian tragedy. One of these lessons is that Muslim states must never allow small minorities and esoteric cults to hold the reins of power in their respective countries, lest the Alawite experiment be allowed to repeat itself.

Moreover, Sunni Muslims in their hundreds of thousands should flock to Syria to help their brethren there protect their lives and honour. This duty, in light of what is happening in Syria, is far more important than any other Islamic obligation.

Muslims in their millions should also demonstrate outside the embassies and diplomatic missions of Iran, Russia and China to protest the unrelenting ongoing genocide in Syria.