Al-Nahar, Lebanon, Originally posted in Arabic on March 19
Much has been said and written about Russia’s decision to withdraw most of its forces from Syria, but very little has been said about Tehran’s reaction to this move.
Iranian Foreign Minister Zariff, during his recent visit to Australia, triedto downplay the importance of this development by claiming that the world “must wait and see what happens now” in Syria. Similarly, a senior adviser to the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei suggested that the withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria “will not lead to any overall change in the cooperation between Iran, Russia, and Syria.”
However, it is safe to assume that the mullahs are not very happy with this decision. Lebanese sources affiliated with Iran did not hide their discontent regarding the Kremlin’s decision to pull out of Syria and leave Hezbollah militants and Revolutionary Guards forces fighting on their own. They had hoped, in vain, that Moscow would continue maintaining its momentum and completely crush the remaining Syrian strongholds in the country.
According to the same sources, Iranian officials spent the last few days “begging” their Russian counterparts to remain in Syria at any cost. In return, Teheran vowed to sign multi-billion dollar weapon deals with Russia and coordinate oil export prices.
However, the Kremlin maintained its firm stance and decided to proceed with its plan. What we are witnessing now are the mullahs in Teheran sitting and waiting to see what happens, unsure how to act next.
Meanwhile, Putin proved that he is the strong man in the region. He reminded the Iranians that despite their recent political successes, it is he, Putin, who is the Caesar in the region. –Ahmad Ayash