Recent developments in southern Syria, particularly in the city of Daraa have caused the slowing of a full reopening of the border with Jordan, which was agreed to recently. The increased conflict and delayed opening of this key trade route could have wider impacts if it is not resolved soon.
Attacks in Daraa by the Iranian-backed Fourth Division are undermining Russia’s recent assurances that the military escalation will cease, according to Asharq al-Awsat.
Local fighters in Syria’s southwestern city of Daraa and nearby neighborhoods and refugee camps were put on high-security alert after they managed to ward off an offensive by regime forces trying to break into opposition-held areas. Troops from the Syrian Army’s Fourth Armored Division attempted an advancement at the Kazzieh crossroad, separating opposition-held parts of Daraa city and regime-controlled areas.
On Tuesday, Russian warplanes launched airstrikes on sites of Turkish-backed armed factions south and north of Idleb, northwest Syria.
Russian Sukhoi Su-35 warplanes targeted armed factions’ fortifications in the vicinity of the Sheikh Bahr area, and the outskirts of the town of Mashon, located in the northern and the southern countryside of Idleb, with high-explosive vacuum missiles and eight air raids, military sources from the opposition told North Press.
Israeli airstrikes on Damascus and Homs, the SDF conducts business with companies under sanctions and arrests ISIS leaders in al-Hassakeh. Catch up on everything that happened over the weekend.
Israeli airstrikes on Syria killed four pro-Iranian fighters allied to the Damascus regime, a Britain-based war monitor said Friday. According to the AFP, Syrian state media earlier said its air defense system engaged “hostile targets” over the capital Damascus late on Thursday.
A political scientist with ties to gulf countries and Syrian tribes: Who is Salem al-Meslet, the new head of the Syrian Opposition Coalition?
The Syrian opposition coalition elected Salem al-Meslet as its new head, who sparked both optimistic and pessimistic reactions.
Hassan Nasrallah called the U.S. claims of fighting ISIS in Syria a lie, accusing the ‘occupation forces’ of looting the country, the Syria Times writes.
The Secretary-General of the Lebanese Hezbollah Resistance Movement Hassan Nasrallah has affirmed that the U.S claims about fighting ISIS in Syria are false and flimsy, as they are nothing but a pretext to stay in the region and strengthen this terror organization to use it in different areas for Washington’s own political agenda.
The President of the opposition held a virtual meeting with the Central Committee and revolutionary forces in southern Syria to discuss the situation in Daraa, according to the SOC.
The President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC), Salem al-Meslet, held a virtual meeting with representatives of the Central Committee and revolutionary forces in southern Syria to discuss the situation in Daraa.
The global coalition to defeat ISIS, which is led by the U.S., is intensifying its presence in the al-Tanf area and training an allied militia, according to al-Soruai Net.
The Tanf military base in Syria is witnessing intensive training by the U.S.-backed international coalition for the Syrian factions present there, represented by Maghawir al-Thawra (Revolutionary Commandos Army).
Iranian officials are carefully weighing their options after the surprisingly swift Taliban takeover of Afghanistan amid fears of instability, a refugee influx, and extremist groups such as Islamic State (IS) gaining a permanent foothold in its eastern neighbor.
Tehran, which has cultivated loose ties with the Taliban in recent years and hosted the group’s representatives, has not publicly reached out to the militants since they seized much of Afghanistan within a week and triumphantly took control of Kabul on August 15.
In brief comments issued after the fall of the Afghan capital, new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and outgoing Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif did not directly mention the Taliban.
“The military defeat and the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan should offer an opportunity to restore life, security, and lasting peace in that country,” Raisi, whose inauguration ceremony was attended by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, was quoted as having said to Zarif on August 16.
Hours earlier, Zarif tweeted that “violence & war — like occupation — never solve problems.” He added that Iran welcomes an announcement by former Afghan President Hamid Karzai on the formation of a “coordination council by Afghan leaders.”
He concluded the August 15 tweet saying that Iranians hope “it can lead to dialogue and a peaceful transition in Afghanistan. Iran stands ready to continue its peacemaking efforts.”
Analysts say Iran is mulling how best to secure its interests in its western neighbor as Tehran has been playing a balancing act by providing public support to the Afghan government while also developing ties with the Taliban.
Iran has previously described the militant Islamist group as “part of today’s reality of Afghanistan” and said it must be “part of the future solution” in the war-torn country.
“The Iranian leadership has put a brave face on. It has celebrated the U.S. withdrawal as a victory for the Afghan people, which by implication offers an endorsement for the Taliban,” Shahram Akbarzadeh, a professor of Middle East and Central Asian politics at Australia’s Deakin University, told RFE/RL.
Akbarzadeh added that Tehran is hoping for “professional if not cordial ties” with Afghanistan’s future government amid worries that the Taliban would be anti-Shi’a, persecute the Hazara minority, and adopt anti-Iran policies.
“This would be extremely concerning for Iran. From the geostrategic point of view, this would facilitate Saudi influence in Afghanistan. An anti-Shi’a and anti-Iran government in Afghanistan could present serious security challenges for Iran and make Afghan territory a haven for anti-Iran terror groups,” he said.
A Tehran-based observer who requested anonymity said Iran is finding a balance between “its anti-American stance and preserving its national interests, including security” on its borders.
‘Most Negative Consequences’
Iran’s former charge d’affaires in Afghanistan, Abdolmohammad Taheri, was quoted by the official government news agency IRNA as saying on August 18 that his country has the “authority” as well as the experience with various groups in Afghanistan to pressure the Taliban to prevent more suffering for the Afghan people while also keeping Iran safe.
Taheri described the withdrawal of U.S forces from Afghanistan as a “betrayal” that paved the way for the Taliban’s lightning advances. He added that Tehran would face the “most negative consequences” of the upheaval, including an influx of refugees that he said could include members of IS and the terrorist group Al-Qaeda.
Iran, which shares a 900-kilometer border with Afghanistan, already hosts more than 3 million Afghans, according to the United Nations refugee agency.
Taheri said Iran cannot tolerate an enemy such as the United States in its vicinity while also warning that the Taliban and the Islamic republic do not share an “affinity” for one another.
The two sworn enemies have forged ties in recent years despite the 1998 killing of seven Iranian diplomats and a journalist in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif after it was overrun by Taliban militants.
There are also reports that Iran has sent arms to the Taliban during its long war against government forces, an accusation that Tehran denies.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry called on the Taliban to ensure the safety of Iranian staff at the consulate in Herat after the group seized the western Afghan city on August 13.
Tehran said on August 17 that the staff of three of out of its five missions in Afghanistan are working from Kabul while adding that the number of staff has been drastically reduced.
But Iran said on August 17 that it is one of four countries still operating at their embassies in Kabul (Russia, China, and Pakistan are the others).
Inside Iran, many have been watching the Taliban takeover with great concern. Some of the Afghans living in Iran have staged protests in Tehran, Isfahan, and Qom in which some chanted “Death to the Taliban.”
The Taliban’s rule from 1996 to 2001 was marked by horrific atrocities and serious human rights violations, including the deprivation of women’s most basic rights.
Amid the concerns, Sunni religious leader Molavi Abdol Hamid created controversy by praising “the Taliban’s impressive” seizure of Afghanistan, claiming that the group’s views have changed in the past 20 years.
“They have gained experience and their views have changed and if there are shortcomings they can be amended,” Abdol Hamid, the Friday Prayers leader of the southeastern city of Zahedan in the Sistan-Baluchistan Province, said on August 17.
Other clerics, including Grand Ayatollah Safi Golpayegani, have warned in past weeks that the Taliban should not be trusted.
“It would be a grave, irreparable error to trust” the Taliban, which has “a history of evilness and murder,” said Golpayegani in July.
Meanwhile, Ayatollah Asadollah Bayat Zanjani warned earlier this month against those attempting to whitewash the policies of the Taliban, which he described as “violent, radical, and terrorist.”
Syrian government forces shelled a village in the country’s rebel-held northwest on Thursday, killing five people, most of them children, opposition activists said.