by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Iranian ally President Bashar al-Assad of Syria was ousted by Islamic insurgents just one month ago, and Iran has already withdrawn most of its troops from the country, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Iran’s Islamic regime had been a strong ally of Assad since Syria’s civil war broke out in 2011 and used the country as a base from which to fight proxy wars against the US and Israel though backing armed groups on Syrian territory.
Assad’s departure represents a substantial blow to Tehran’s power in the Middle East, WSJ reports. Iranian Quds Forces have gone back to Iran, and other militant groups have disbanded as Syria looks to the future under new anti-Assad leadership, WSJ said.
“The swift withdrawal marks a dramatic reshaping of the regional order in the Middle East,” WSJ noted in its report. “The shift to the new fledgling government in Damascus, led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that toppled Syria’s longtime dictator, has undercut the influence of Assad’s primary backers, Russia and Shiite-led Iran.”
“For Iran, Syria was among its most important strategic assets, allowing it to move personnel and weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and position forces near its arch-adversary Israel. The Assad regime’s collapse severely undermines Tehran’s ability to rebuild both Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, which have been battered by Israel in recent months,” WSJ noted.
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