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Once staunch Assad backers, Iran and Russia now calling for deescalation in Syria

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Once staunch Assad backers, Iran and Russia now calling for deescalation in Syria.
Moscow claims there is ‘no serious threat’ to its two key military bases in Syria, while remaining mum on their future; Tehran says only Syrian nation should decide country’s fate.

Iran and Russia, once staunch allies of fallen Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, appeared on Sunday to walk a fine diplomatic line following the toppling of the longtime autocrat by rebel leaders.

While Moscow announced Sunday that Assad had resigned the presidency and departed Syria, it did not say if he had sought refuge in Russia, nor did it address the future of Russian military bases in the country.

Meanwhile, Tehran, which spent years propping up Assad amid the country’s bloody civil war, said Sunday that only Syrians could determine the nation’s future path.

Islamist rebels declared on Sunday that they had ousted Assad after seizing control of Damascus, ending his family’s decades of autocratic rule after more than 13 years of civil war.

Moscow said Sunday that Russia’s two military facilities in Syria had been put on a state of high alert, but played down an immediate risk to them.

“There is currently no serious threat to their security,” the foreign ministry said.

Syrian President Bashar Assad inspects the Russian Hmeimim air base in the province of Latakia, Syria, June 27, 2017 (Syrian Presidency via AP)

Moscow, a staunch backer of Assad, whom it intervened to help in 2015 in its biggest Middle East foray since the Soviet collapse, is scrambling to salvage its position with its geopolitical clout in the wider region and two strategically important military bases in Syria on the line.

Russia operates the Hmeimim air base in Syria’s Latakia province, which it has used to launch airstrikes against rebels in the past, and has a naval facility at Tartous on the coast. The Tartous facility is Russia’s only Mediterranean repair and replenishment hub, and Moscow has used Syria as a staging post to fly its military contractors in and out of Africa.

Losing Tartous in particular would be a serious blow to Russia’s ability to project power in the Middle East, the Mediterranean and Africa, said Western military analysts.

Russian war bloggers, some of whom are close to the Russian Defense Ministry and get more freedom from Russian authorities to speak out than military officials, have warned that the bases are now dangerously exposed regardless of what Moscow says officially.

The foreign ministry said Moscow was alarmed by events in Syria.

“We urge all parties involved to refrain from the use of violence and to resolve all issues of governance through political means,” its statement said. “In that regard, the Russian Federation is in contact with all groups of the Syrian opposition.”

Syrian President Bashar Assad (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in Damascus, Syria, January 7, 2020. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

It said it was also doing all it could to ensure the safety of Russian citizens in Syria, whom the embassy on Friday advised to leave the country. The Russian Embassy in Damascus told the state TASS news agency on Sunday that its staff were “fine.”

Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign ministry said Sunday that Syria’s fate is the sole responsibility of the Syrian people, and should be pursued without foreign imposition or intervention.

Iran spent billions of dollars propping up Assad during the Syrian civil war that erupted in 2011 and deployed its Revolutionary Guards to Syria to keep its ally in power so as to maintain Tehran’s “Axis of Resistance” to Israel and US influence in the Middle East.

Following Assad’s fall from power, Iran’s foreign ministry called for a national dialogue to form an inclusive government representing all segments of Syrian society.

A man holds a local newspaper with the front page news on the situation in Syria on December 8, 2024 in Tehran, Iran. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)

“We will spare no effort to help establish security and stability in Syria, and to this end, we will continue consultations with all influential parties, especially in the region,” the foreign ministry added.

The foreign ministry said it expected ties between Tehran and Damascus to continue based on the two countries’ “far-sighted and wise approach.”

Tehran’s ties to Damascus had allowed Iran to spread its influence through a land corridor from its western border via Iraq all the way to Lebanon to bring supplies to Hezbollah.

(times of israel)

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