Iran did not support former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the fight against the opposition, fearing Israeli strikes on an Iranian plane with military aid.
This is reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) with reference to Syrian officials.
Iran has told Assad that aid to his regime will be limited, if any. Assad was accused of failing to prepare for a rebel attack and Iran of not sending military aid because of the threat from Israel. So, an Iranian plane flying to Syria turned around due to the threat of Israeli airstrikes.
In addition, Iran also ordered the military of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and pro-Iranian military formations not to intervene in the fighting in Syria. Iran then secured the withdrawal of its personnel from Syria and negotiated a peaceful handover of territory to the rebels.
Iran and Russia were Bashar al-Assadʼs closest allies and helped him maintain power in Syria. However, they have now become active participants in other military conflicts, with Russia launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Iran stepping up strikes against Israel following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in October 2023.
So all this opened the door for the military groups of the Syrian opposition, which have been building up their combat potential in recent years. Analysts say that Russia, as well as some senior officials of the Assad regime, have recognized that Assad and his supporters have become a "sinking ship".
What preceded
Active clashes between the rebels and Syrian troops began on November 27. The offensive was launched by the Syrian Revolutionary Forces in "response to months of continuous attacks on civilians" by the Assad regime in Aleppo province. It was the most intense fighting in northwest Syria since 2020, when government forces seized areas previously controlled by opposition fighters.
In early December, the media reported that the Assadʼs Forces had lost control of Aleppo for the first time since the start of the military conflict that began more than a decade ago. Later, it became known about the loss of the city of Hama, the fifth largest in the country, by the Assad regime. And already on December 8, the Assad regime fell after the opposition attacked the capital Damascus.
The countryʼs prime minister is preparing to hand over the functions of the transitional government to her. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Bashar al-Assad left the post of president of Syria and left the country, adding that he gave the order to transfer power peacefully and before that held negotiations with the participants in the conflict.
The US President Joe Biden said that the US will cooperate with the Syrian opposition during the transition of power in Syria.
Civil war in Syria
The civil war in Syria has been going on since 2011. It began as a local confrontation, which gradually turned into an uprising against the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Over time, it involved not only the main states of the region, but also international organizations, military-political groups and other countries.
The main participants in the conflict are regular military formations that support President Bashar Assad, formations of the "moderate" Syrian opposition, Kurdish regionalists, as well as various terrorist groups. The parties to the conflict receive military aid from other countries: government forces are supported by Russia and Iran, while the Syrian opposition receives aid from Western countries, Turkey and the Gulf monarchies.
The Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah also aided the Assad regime in the civil war and was present in Syria. However, it has now concentrated its forces in Lebanon to repel an Israeli offensive in the south of the country. During this conflict, Hezbollah lost thousands of fighters, as well as its commanders and leader Hassan Nasrallah.
As for Russiaʼs support, since 2011 it has come to the aid of President Bashar Assad. Russia sent weapons to the country, which were accumulated by the Syrian troops, and also kept its own military bases with weapons there. In 2015, the Russians began to fight on the territory of Syria together with Hezbollah fighters. Videos and photos were circulated on social networks, in which fighters from the Syrian opposition allegedly captured Russian military equipment, including assault rifles and tanks.
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