al jazeeraThe al-Assad regime in Syria has been Iran’s consistent ally since the 1979 revolution, and as such Tehran has seen the survival of the Syrian government as being crucial to its interests, since Syria provides a vital thoroughfare to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has described Syria as Iran’s “35th province”, but recent events which led to the downfall of the al-Assad regime show a remarkable shift in this longstanding relationship.
Syria was once Iran’s closest Arab ally, but now it appears everything Tehran had built and fought to preserve for 40 years to make it its main foothold in the Arab world has been lost.
Iran’s other key ally Hezbollah has been battered after an intense period of fighting with Israel in Lebanon. Syria was a crucial passageway for Iran to supply Hezbollah with money, weapons and training, and political, diplomatic and logistical support. That is no longer the case.
Iran deployed commanders and troops to Syria in 2012 at the start of the antigovernment uprising, helping to defeat both the opponents of the al-Assad regime and the ISIL (ISIS) group. According to officials in Tehran, the cost was high, with thousands of members of the Revolutionary Guard killed and nearly $50bn spent to ensure al-Assad’s survival.
Yet [a recent] concern for Iran was Israel’s threat to attack any mobilisation of Iranian troops in Syria. Two flights by a private Iranian airline en route to Damascus were turned around this past week after warnings by Israel that it would shoot them down if they entered Syrian airspace, according to Iranian and Israeli officials. Israel said the flights were transferring weapons.
Hezbollah and the al-Assad regime have been described as Tehran’s right and left wings. And with both now having been clipped, it’s unclear how Tehran will deal with the new reality of its weakened position in the region.
The Israeli army says its forces are stationed on four fronts: the occupied West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.
In a statement on Telegram, the army said ground troops had been deployed into Syrian territory and were working with other branches of the army, including air, sea and intelligence.
From Stockholm, Sweden, where crowds of Syrians have gathered to celebrate the end of the al-Assad regime, Eiad Aldroubi, a political science student, tells Al Jazeera that Syrians finally have hope after years of living under a brutal dictatorship.
“The Assad regime was so brutal, we had no freedom of speech, no freedom of the press, no freedom organisation … even if you say a joke about the regime you would disappear, you would not see the sun again,” he told Al Jazeera’s Paul Rhys, adding that his uncle, an activist and lawyer defending political detainees, was imprisoned by the al-Assad regime and died while detained.
“Now after 13 years of war and repression, finally we are done with the Assad regime. Now at least we have hope. We feel that now we can create a new country, a country for all Syrians,” he continued.
“In the future, when Syria becomes more stable, and we get democratic institutions and it becomes a more modern democratic country, of course I will visit Syria and maybe eventually I will move there, too.”
The spiritual leader of the Druze community, Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri, said in Sweida, southern Syria, that he congratulates and pays respects to the “heroic Syrians … regardless of their affiliations”.
Al-Hijri called on Syrians to work together amid the fall of al-Assad’s regime and build a civil state based on “justice and equality”.
He added a call for a new constitution to be drafted and supported by Syrians through a vote.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the European Union would help to rebuild a Syria that safeguards minorities after the dramatic fall of al-Assad.
“Europe is ready to support safeguarding national unity and rebuilding a Syrian state that protects all minorities,” she said in a statement on X on Sunday.
“The cruel Assad dictatorship has collapsed. This historic change in the region offers opportunities but is not without risks,” added the commission president.
She said the bloc was in touch with key leaders in Europe and the region and was monitoring the fast-moving developments.
Mr.BadGuy
Publisher
Mr.BadGuy
Publisher
These soldiers are from a country whose president is a Jew Zelensky. Orthodox churches are also being destroyed in this country. Synagogues are not touched. Surprisingly, it turns out that Jews get along well with the Bandera Nazis.