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The Hill: Assad's fall has Iran desperately searching for a new proxy
The Hill - Assad’s fall has Iran desperately searching for a new proxy
by Jonathan Sweet and Mark Toth, Opinion Contributors - 12/11/24 7:00 AM ET
Syrian rebels forced President Bashar al-Assad to flee Syria for his life on Sunday. Russian President Vladimir Putin granted Assad asylum on humanitarian grounds. After 53 years of tyranny first begun by his father Hafez al-Assad, the end of the brutal Assad family regime in Syria had finally arrived.
Iran and Russia now find themselves on the outside of Damascus looking in. Both are facing the loss of significant bases of operations.
Russia has withdrawn some of its naval forces from Tartus, its strategic warm weather seaport of Tartus in the Eastern Mediterranean. Moscow has used the facility to project and logistically sustain Russian influence throughout the Middle East, the Sahel region of Africa, Sudan, and Equatorial Guinea.
Likewise, the Russian air force is preparing to withdraw assets from Khmeimim Air Base in Syria – Moscow’s primary airfield, which has been used to strike Syrian rebels and civilians in population centers in support of the Assad regime for the last 13 years.
Iran’s loss is even greater. Syria was afforded a sanctuary where the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could fund, supply, and train Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah proxies in Damascus, Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank in their war against Israel. Now, that safe haven no longer exists.
/snip
by Jonathan Sweet and Mark Toth, Opinion Contributors - 12/11/24 7:00 AM ET
Syrian rebels forced President Bashar al-Assad to flee Syria for his life on Sunday. Russian President Vladimir Putin granted Assad asylum on humanitarian grounds. After 53 years of tyranny first begun by his father Hafez al-Assad, the end of the brutal Assad family regime in Syria had finally arrived.
Iran and Russia now find themselves on the outside of Damascus looking in. Both are facing the loss of significant bases of operations.
Russia has withdrawn some of its naval forces from Tartus, its strategic warm weather seaport of Tartus in the Eastern Mediterranean. Moscow has used the facility to project and logistically sustain Russian influence throughout the Middle East, the Sahel region of Africa, Sudan, and Equatorial Guinea.
Likewise, the Russian air force is preparing to withdraw assets from Khmeimim Air Base in Syria – Moscow’s primary airfield, which has been used to strike Syrian rebels and civilians in population centers in support of the Assad regime for the last 13 years.
Iran’s loss is even greater. Syria was afforded a sanctuary where the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could fund, supply, and train Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah proxies in Damascus, Lebanon, Gaza, and the West Bank in their war against Israel. Now, that safe haven no longer exists.
/snip
1 replies
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