Iran has established direct communication with rebels in Syria’s new leadership since the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, a move aimed at preventing a hostile trajectory between the two countries. The development comes as Tehran seeks to maintain its influence in the region and avoid losing its strategic leverage.
According to a senior Iranian official, Iran wants to establish inclusive government in Syria that represents all segments of Syrian society. However, the country’s clerical rulers are also wary of potential backlash from US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to intensify economic and political pressure on Iran.
Iran’s engagement with Syria’s new leadership is seen as key to stabilizing ties and avoiding further regional tensions. The country has made contact with two groups within the new leadership, and the level of interaction will be assessed in the coming days.
The fall of Assad exposed Tehran’s dwindling strategic leverage in the region, exacerbated by Israel’s military offensives against Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza. Iran’s clerical rulers spent billions of dollars propping up Assad during the civil war that erupted in Syria in 2011 and deployed its Revolutionary Guards to Syria to keep its ally in power.
The new development is seen as a response to the loss of an important ally in Damascus, which would deprive Lebanese armed group Hezbollah of its only land supply route and deny Iran its main access to the Mediterranean.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/iran-is-direct-contact-with-groups-within-syrias-new-leadership-says-iranian-2024-12-09