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Opinion: Why is Iran “Openly” Announcing its Presence in Syria? | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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The deputy coordinator of the Iranian Army’s Ground Forces General Amir-Ali Arasteh announced that his country will send “special forces from Brigade 65 and other units to Syria to work as advisers” and added that Iran may decide at some point to use special forces and snipers as military advisers in Iraq and Syria. So why is Iran “openly” admitting its involvement in Syria now?

It is known that Tehran has mercenaries and militias working for it. These include Hezbollah terrorists and forces of the Revolutionary Guards’ units that fight in support of the criminal Bashar Al-Assad. However, Iran has always denied this and its role in Syria has been shamefully overlooked by western media. The Obama administration has also overlooked Tehran’s villainous role in supporting the criminal of Damascus, and before that its supporters in Iraq. So why is Iran publicly announcing its deployment of troops to Syria? I think there are three reasons.

The first reason is the Russian “declaration” of withdrawal from Syria. The Russian announcement means the exposure of Assad, and Iran is trying to say that it will take Russia’s place and protect the criminal of Damascus. This is not a message for Assad only, but for all supporters of Iran in the region.

The second reason is the recent leak about the Russian – American agreement on the need for Assad’s departure. Despite all the denials, what is clear is that Iran does not trust Russian – American positions. Tehran knows that the Moscow – Washington agreement will be imposed on it because their interests are bigger and more important than Iran and its agents who are merely pawns on a chessboard.

The third reason for Iran’s announcement that it is sending special forces to Syria is the revelation that the Obama administration is considering a plan to dramatically increase the number of US special forces sent to Syria with the expectation that this will accelerate the gains that have been recently achieved against ISIS, especially after the Al-Nusra Front spokesman was killed in a US airstrike which shows that Moscow and Washington are moving rapidly to clean up the scene of terrorist leaders.

The next step is the political transition and this is confirmed by Russia’s calls for Assad’s negotiators to “show flexibility” last Monday. All of this pushed Iran to announce its intervention in Syria so that the Russians notice their presence and that they are not ignored in any anticipated agreement. The announcement also forced Obama, who is known for being indecisive, to rethink his calculations, especially after he changed his mind when Assad crossed the red line. More importantly, Iran wants to tell its agents in the region that it will not abandon them. This is an interpretation of the public Iranian announcement that it is intervening in Syria, and these times are full of surprises!