Zarif attempts to save Iran’s influence in Syria

The visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, on Monday 20 April 2020, to Damascus, which takes a full day, came at a critical time for Tehran, where the American sanctions caused the deterioration of its economy, and then the Corona pandemic came to turn Iranian cities into ghost cities, and its military presence On Syrian soil, he faces an existential challenge due to the unwillingness of all actors to continue this military presence, after the justification for its existence has ended.

Tehran faces a major dilemma in Syria. After many years of fighting and massive support for the Syrian regime, and the huge human and material losses that ensued, the Iranian regime is trying to translate these military successes into political and economic gains, which seems very difficult in light of the current regional and international data. The United States, whose forces control the oil areas in northeastern Syria, rejects the presence of Shiite militias affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and the Turkish position does not differ much. Relations between Ankara and Tehran do not appear at their best, especially after the Turks targeted these militias, and Aha a large number of deaths among them.

Zarif discussed with Assad in their first meeting nearly a year ago, developments related to Turkish military operations in Idlib, north of the country, as Ankara has in recent months sent large military reinforcements, established a number of bases in the region, and clashed with the Syrian army, and so it occupied this file As part of Zarif’s discussions with his Syrian hosts, according to the Syrian regime’s SANA news agency, President Assad stressed that Turkey’s actions on the ground reveal the truth of Ankara’s intentions by not adhering to the agreements it concluded, which stipulate recognition of the unity and sovereignty of Syria.

This meeting also comes at a time when relations between Moscow and Tehran are cold due to the end of the Iranian militia’s job after its success in preserving the Assad regime and preventing its downfall, while Iran believes that it is time to reap the fruits after a war in which tens of billions of dollars have been spent, the Russians refuse That the Iranians participate in them to share the spoil, especially since the international cost that Moscow will incur does not encourage the maintenance of this ally, which has become a huge burden. The My country does not accept such a presence, and the spread of Corona in Iran came to make matters worse. The Russian army removed the Iranians from its areas of existence due to the outbreak of the virus in their country and the transmission of infections to a number of them.

The Iranian Foreign Minister’s visit came to convey a message that Tehran will not give up its influence in Syria easily, after all that it spent since 2011, and his visit was accompanied by field movements in the Syrian east, which is a stronghold of the Iranian militias, which built new military headquarters near the city of Al-Mayadeen, And deployed large numbers of cannons and missiles around those headquarters.

On Tuesday, April 21, 2020, the US State Department criticized Muhammad Jawad Zarif’s visit to Damascus, and asked the State Department’s spokesperson, Morgan Ortigas, in her tweet on the social networking site «Twitter»: What assistance did Tehran provide to the President of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad? To answer, saying: “All that the Iranian regime has provided Syria with violence and instability … If Tehran is concerned with the safety of the Syrian people, it must withdraw the Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah, and all of their militias, from Syrian territory.”