Bashar al-Assad’s downfall has sparked a bitter blame game in Iran as military forces turn on each other amid the loss of Iranian influence in the region.
Commanders from Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have been angrily blaming one another for the collapse of Assad’s regime, IRGC officials are reported to have said.
One compared the atmosphere to punching each other, punching walls, yelling at one another and « kicking rubbish bins ».
They told the Telegraph: « They are blaming each other, and no one is taking responsibility. »
Syrian rebels reached the capital, Damascus, at the weekend and overthrew al-Assad’s government after almost 14 years of civil war.
It has raised hopes for a more peaceful future for Syria but also concerns about a potential security vacuum in the country, which is divided between armed groups.
Tehran spent billions propping up Assad’s brutal regime, with Syria the main route used by Iran to supply arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Hezbollah was used by Tehran to project Iran’s military might towards Israel, which shares a border with Lebanon.
For Tel Aviv, al-Assad’s demise poses a possible danger – as unrest could spill over into Israel – and an opportunity to disrupt Iran’s ability to smuggle weapons through Syria to Hezbollah.
The Israeli military at the weekend began seizing control of a demilitarized buffer zone in Syria created as part of a 1974 ceasefire between the two countries. It said the move was temporary and intended to secure its border.
But the incursion drew condemnation, with critics accusing Israel of violating the ceasefire and possibly exploiting the chaos in Syria for a land grab.
Israel on Monday (December 9) hit suspected chemical and long-range weapons sites in Syria to keep them from the rebels who seized Damascus.
Iran has said it expects « friendly » relations with Syria to continue, with Khamenei due to address the Islamic Republic on Wednesday.
The Kremlin’s failure to prevent Assad’s swift downfall has also exposed the limits of Russian power and dented its international clout.
After a 2011 uprising against Assad’s rule morphed into a civil war, Moscow continued to be a key backer of Damascus, offering political support to the United Nations.
When Assad’s rule neared collapse after a series of defeats on the battlefield in 2015, Russia joined Iran to intervene militarily.
The military intervention allowed Assad to reclaim control of most of Syria, making the Kremlin a key power broker in the Middle East and boosting Russia’s prestige.
With Assad’s demise, the future of Russian bases in Syria — its only military foothold outside the former Soviet Union — is in question.
Russian President Vladimir Putin granted Assad and his family asylum in Russia just as Moscow reached out to the new Syrian authorities to try and ensure the security of its bases.
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