Faced with the rebels’ lightning offensive, Bashar al-Assad can count on the support of Tehran. He met the head of Iranian diplomacy this Sunday in Damascus.
The Syrian army carried out a series of counterattacks on Sunday in the cities of Aleppo and Idlib to push back insurgents who made surprise advances.
Syrian state television claimed government forces had killed nearly 1,000 insurgents over the past three days, without providing evidence or details.
The Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, a group that operates in opposition-held areas, says Assad’s army has launched joint operations with Russian forces in the two cities.
Fighter jets reportedly bombed the area, killing at least 18 people and injuring dozens more. Russia, which has long supported Syrian President Assad in the 13-year-old war, has not publicly commented on its involvement.
Iran has also been a key political and military ally of Assad in this long-running civil war. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s visit to Damascus was aimed at reiterating Tehran’s support for Assad.
Iran, Russia and the regional groups they support helped Assad take control of the city of around two million people in 2016. A relentless air campaign, led by Russian warplanes, allowed Assad’s forces to enter the city and claim it.
On Wednesday, a coalition of rebel groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) jihadists carried out a surprise assault on Syria’s second city, Aleppo. This attack forced the Syrian armed forces to temporarily retreat, awaiting reinforcements that would allow them to respond.
Insurgents seized most of Aleppo on Saturday in a surprise offensive and now claim to have entered the town of Hama. There has been no independent confirmation of their claim.
Colonel Hassan Abdulghani, rebel commander, said separately that the insurgents had also taken control of Sheikh Najjar, northeast of the city, the Aleppo military academy and the field artillery school , to the southwest.
The rapid and surprising offensive is a huge embarrassment for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and raises questions about the preparedness of his armed forces. It also comes at a time when Damascus’s allies – Iran and the groups it supports, as well as Russia – are preoccupied with their own conflicts.
Abbas Araghchi is due to travel to Türkiye on Monday (link in English) to meet his counterpart Hakan Fidan and discuss the ongoing escalation in Syria.
This outbreak of violence comes at a time when the Middle East is experiencing severe political turmoil. Israel is actively fighting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, both of which have threatened to trigger wider regional fallout.
The renewed violence in Syria also risks drawing two regional powers into conflict. Russia and Turkey each have their own interests to protect, with both sides providing support to opposing groups in the conflict.
A war involving one or the other country in direct confrontations would have harmful consequences on an already unstable political scene.
No Comment: An oil spill devastates the Russian Black Sea coast