Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool (Brigades of the Descendants of the Prophet) is an increasingly powerful national umbrella organization of locally-based Syrian Sunni Islamist armed opposition fighting groups which are active belligerents against the al-Assad government. It is a “franchise” organization whose constituent kata’ib (battalions) announce that they are formally part of, and fight under the banner of, the national “Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool.” The number of kata’ibthroughout Syria stating that they are a part of Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool has been growing quickly since the organization’s founding in July 2012.

The organization was first announced in Damascus, where three kata’ib in the city’s suburbs joined together to form the Liwa’ Ahfaad ar-Rasool (Brigade of the Descendants of the Prophet). This new group stated that it sought to fight jihad against the kuffar (unbelievers) — implied to be the al-Assad government which is considered to be dominated at its highest levels by Alawites — in the path of God and promote the victory of religion and truthful righteousness in Syria. It currently maintains this message, without the mention of fighting kuffar, and with a greater focus on striving for God and being willing to die in order to accomplish that goal. As part of a movement engaged in waging jihad, kata’ib of the Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool encourage prayer and reflection before battle, and the organization advertises this concern for the spiritual well-being of its members through its official media.

Kata’ib of the organization are very active belligerents against the Syrian military, conducting operations in both urban and rural battle spaces. These operations are diverse, and include targets such as tanks and military checkpoints, attacking paramilitary barracks with Grad missiles, firing artillery at Syrian military bases, sniping, and shooting down Syrian militaryaircraft. It also claims to have successfully conducted three attacks against high-level Syrian government targets. The first occurred in August 2012 when Liwa’ Ahfaad ar-Rasool, then stated to be a part of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), claimed responsibility for a truck bombing that targeted a Syrian security forces center and military depot in central Damascus. The second operation, directed against Lieutenant Jamil Hassan, the head of the powerful Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate, resulted in his assassination by poisoning — an act that Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool claims to have ordered. The third attack occurred on September 2 against an officers’ barracks in the General Administration Building in central  Damascus, which Liwa’ Ahfaad ar-Rasool claims killed or wounded approximately 200 Syrian soldiers.

Organization, Ideology, and Alliances

Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool claims to fight in 13 Syrian governorates, with particular strength in the north-western province of Idlib; in Damascus and its southern suburbs; in the central-western city of Hama and its suburbs; in the south-western governorate of Quneitra and the Golan region that borders Israel; and in the north-eastern governorate of Hasakah, particularly in the vicinity of the restive and mixed Kurdish and Arab city of Ras al-’Ayn. It also has growing strength in the city of Aleppo and its suburbs, and in the north-eastern city of Raqqa and its suburbs, where the organization is emerging as a major armed opposition combatant and administrator of local opposition-controlled civil society in coordination with other armed opposition organizations, including the al-Qaeda affiliated movement Jabhat al-Nusra (The Victory Front). Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool also has constituent kata’ib in the north-western coastal governorate of Lattakia and in the central-western Homs governorate. At present, it is unclear how many fighters participate in the kata’ib of the organizaton, although one figure that has been proposed is approximately 15,000 throughout Syria.

Ideologically, the kata’ib of Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool can generally be described as “Syrian Sunni-Islamist nationalist,” although some of them may also be inclined towards more secularist or militant Salafist ideological persuasions. Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool’s logos are highly symbolic of the organization’s purported worldview. Its original logo, which remains the icon on its well-updated Twitter feed, features a green field upon which is laid a tall mosque, the shahada (declaration of faith), and the name of, and a benediction to, the Prophet Muhammad. Currently, the “franchise” logo of Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool has become mostly uniform amongst the organization’s kata’ib throughout the country, a process which began to show in their Internet media output starting in late October 2012. The logo features the green, black, and white striped with three red stars flag of the original post-Independence Syrian Republic (1930-1958) shaped into a crescent, upon which is a gold plate with theshahada written upon it. A rifle and a sword cross beneath the gold plate.

Some of the kata’ib of Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool also incorporate their own logos, including with the “black banner of the Prophet,” a simple black flag with the shahada written in white upon it. This banner is also popularly associated with Islamist movements, and in some contexts, with jihad and militant Salafism. The use of the black banner by some of the organization’s kata’ibis diverse, and includes the banner in the hand of a warrior on horseback, wrapped around an AK-47 placed upon a Qur’an.

The national organization of Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool does not currently state that it has a supreme commander. It does claim to have some type of command and control structure, even if symbolic, organized under the auspices and media outreach of its “General Command.” At the present time, Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool appears to be led at the local level, at the initiative of the commanders of each of its kata’ib. Membership in the constituent kata’ibof the organization, based upon the author’s analysis of the videos released on the Internet by the battalions, appears to be a mix of defected Syrian soldiers, and local militiamen and youth. As a result of the diverse leadership of its kata’ib, and the incipient nature of the Syrian armed opposition as a whole throughout the country, Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool’s battalions maintain an ambiguous relationship with the other armed opposition organizations operating in their particular area.

These organizations include the member fighting groups claiming to belong to the FSA and its ruling Supreme Military Council, Jabhat al-Nusra, and the two largest coalitions of armed opposition groups currently active against the Syrian government, the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front (SILF), which includes the large organization Kata’ib al-Farouq and its constituent fighting groups, and the Syrian Islamic Front (SIF), which is dominated by the large Syrian Salafist organization Harakat Ahrar ash-Sham. Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool maintains active relations with all of these groups, particularly in militant operations.

Frequently, Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool actively joins in combatant “alliances” with other armed opposition groups in order to conduct larger offensives against the Syrian military. It also cooperates in civil society administration in regions of Syria that are under the control of the opposition, including in Idlib and in Raqqa, where it is reported to be working with several other organizations, including Jabhat al-Nusra and Harakat Ahrar ash-Sham, to install a system of shari’a courts to adjudicate local grievances through the interpretations of Islamic law. As a result of the participation of some of Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool’s kata’ib in efforts to institute “Salafist” civil administration in these regions, and the general “Islamist” ideology that many of the members of the constituent kata’ib of the organization are reported to hold, Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool is frequently referred to as part of the Salafist current in the ideological development of Syria’s armed opposition groups.

A captured leader of Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool also recently made a “confession” on Syrian state-run television where he asserted that funding and weapons for the organization came from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, and Jordan, and that they prayed and fought with the al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra. This connection to Qatar as a major source of the organization’s funding has also been asserted by Reuters, which interviewed Western security and intelligence officials, and in The Washington Post. In addition to the foreign support that Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool might receive, the organization’s national presence and willingness to fight in some of the fiercest fronts in the Syrian Civil War are qualities that are providing it with an authentic message that is a truly committed fighting force seeking the overthrow of the al-Assad government.

This willingness to fight against the Syrian government has led Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool into two important combatant alliances: The Tajam’u Ansar al-Islam fee Qalab ash-Sham (Gathering of the Partisans of Islam in the Heart of Damascus) in Damascus and its suburbs, and the Ma’rakat aj-Jasad al-Wahad (The Battle of the Single Body). The Tajam’u Ansar al-Islam was formed in Damascus in August 2012 as an alliance of several constituent armed Sunni Islamist organizations in order to defeat the “criminal gangs of Bashar al-Assad.” Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool is an integral fighting group within Ansar al-Islam. Its constituent kata’ib in Damascus and its suburbs have participated in some of the fiercest fighting in the city, especially in the diverse and restive southern suburbs around the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk and around the very important Shi’a shrine of Sayyida Zeinab. Ansar al-Islam also claims to have conducted a September 25, 2012, suicide minivan bombing attack against a Syrian military headquarters in Damascus that killed four Syrian soldiers.

The Ma’rakat aj-Jasad al-Wahad was formed in late April 2013 following the massacre of 145 civilians in the western Syrian coastal city of Baniyas in the Tartus governorate. Syria’s opposition blames the al-Assad government and its paramilitary forces for perpetrating the massacre. As a result of the massacre at Baniyas, several armed opposition organizations with strong presences in Syria’s western governorates, particularly in Aleppo, Idlib, Hama, and Homs governorates, declared the formation of the Ma’rakat aj-Jasad al-Wahad in order to coordinate their activities to defeat the al-Assad government and avenge the deaths of the Baniyas civilians. Some of Syria’s largest and most powerful armed opposition groups, including Harakat Ahrar ash-Sham, Suqoor ash-Sham (Falcons of the Levant), Kata’ib al-Farouq al-Islamiyya (Islamic Farouq Battalions), Liwa al-Tawheed (Holy Unity Brigade), and Liwa al-Haqq(Brigade of Divine Truth) are fighting alongside Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool in this campaign.

Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool is an important constituent organization in this nascent effort, particularly in Idlib and Hama governorates where it has a plurality of its kata’ib. Both itsHama and Idlib battalions are active participants in the combat fought under the banner of the Ma’rakat aj-Jasad al-Wahad. The Hama and Idlib kata’ib of Liwa Ahfaad ar-Rasool are devoting most of their current operations to supporting the attacks that are performed through the Ma’rakat aj-Jasad al-Wahad’s new campaign, which is demonstrated by the media output that is uploaded onto their social media sites.

Outlook

Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool is growing in its influence as an armed organization on the ground inside of Syria. The willingness of the organization’s kata’ib to engage in fierce fighting with the Syrian military in battlefronts throughout the country, gives membership in the Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool both wide geographical reach and a certain valorous panache that appears to be increasingly attractive to members of the armed opposition. Although it is ideologically inclined towards social, if not militant, Sunni Islamism — which is not necessarily a threatening or foreign philosophy to Syria’s Sunni rural and disenfranchised urban communities from which many of the fighters of the revolution come from — Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool is careful to assert its “Syrian nationalist” credentials and focus on its country above all else. As a result, the organization does not yet appear to have foreign fighters in its ranks, or to have the stigma of fighting in the name of the global jihad that is applied to Jabhat al-Nusra.

The ongoing Ma’rakat aj-Jasad al-Wahad campaign in western Syria is very important to Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool. It is providing the organization with the opportunity to strengthen its ties with the other particularly powerful armed opposition organizations in the country, especially the Harakat Ahrar ash-Sham, with which it already had been building relations through coordinated attacks against the Syrian military. The camaraderie formed between some of Syria’s most powerful armed opposition groups in the Ma’rakat aj-jasad al-Wahad in several important and strategic western governorates, could have great repercussions in a post-Assad or transitioning Syria.

While the anti-Assad international community seeks to better coordinate the movement of weapons and war material into Syria for the use of approved armed opposition groups, one of the conditions of continued support and largesse will be greater control and coordination of the armed opposition force on the ground. Those organizations, except Jabhat al-Nusra, that are best organized and most likely to inflict damage upon the Syrian military, will also be best placed to seek foreign support. Thus, the organized forces of Ma’rakat aj-Jasad al-Wahad, with Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool constituting a vitally important part of its efforts, are building an incipient and increasingly coordinated network of fighting groups in strategic regions of western Syria that could be well-placed to justify increased foreign support.

As a result of its current militant efforts, Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool is seemingly well-placed to continue to increase the reach of its “brand” through Syria. Its constituent kata’ib, having chosen freely to join its ranks, display great pride in fighting under the “banner” of Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool in continuous combat against the Syrian military. This is an esprit de corpsthat should benefit the organization into the foreseeable future. Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool is a Syrian armed opposition organization that is poised to become one of the most heavily observed and commonly cited fighting forces of the Syrian Civil War.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Fair Observer’s editorial policy.

Original article published on Fair Observer: http://www.fairobserver.com/article/alwiya-ahfaad-ar-rasool-growing-force-syrian-armed-opposition

The post Alwiya Ahfaad ar-Rasool: A Growing Force in the Syrian Armed Opposition – By NICHOLAS A. HERAS appeared first on Middle East Post.

Israeli leadership passed a threat to the Lebanese president stating that the former will destroy the country of the latter and return it fifty years in time if Hezbollah makes any attack from the Lebanese or occupied Golan territories. Israeli Prime Minister opened the meeting of his government by stating that Israel will continue to target any missiles sent from Syria to Hezbollah and mentioned that the Middle East is passing in one of its most complicated and sensitive situations since tens of years.

Israeli analysts on Israel Channel One stated that several sources report about a great pressure made by Iran on the Syrian president to already start an attack against Israel because of its latest air strikes of targets near Damascus. However, the Syrian president does not seem to hurry to start an attack now but definitely made it clear that his army will be reacting to any future Israeli attacks. In addition to that declaring the directing of missiles toward Tel Aviv means that Syria already improved its defending capabilities to protect the Syrian sky from any foreign attacks.

Russia’s recent involvement makes the situation much more complicated in which both Syria and Israel will have to commit to the directions that come from the United States and Russia in any decision making. The reason is the need of both Israel and Syria for help and back up from the great powers in any possible wide confrontation. The trigger that would start such a confrontation would be a new Israeli attack on missiles being moved from Syria to Hezbollah or the targeting of Syrian military institutions. Some of the Syrian rebellions streams already started targeting strategic Syrian targets that are controlled by the Syrian regime. One of these most targets is a center that holds the radars in charge of following up with any foreign movement into the Syrian skies.

The situation of the Syrian rebellions is not stable because of the different streams that work under the name “Syrian revolution”. One of these streams known for “Jaysh AlNusra”; AlNusra army is known for being very close to the Al-Qaida and acts violently by killing any individual from the Syrian regime that can be found. In addition, “Jaysh AlNusra” is known for its strategy of creating chaos and violence in order to reach a situation where it can control and lead; similar to Al-Zarqawi former strategy in Iraq.

In the next few days the political decision from all the sides would decide the way events will take place in the region but it is clear that one event would lead to several inevitable events that would take place through the region and lead its countries into a wide violent confrontation.

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Israel thought that it will be easy to convince Russia not to give Syria any S300 missiles that make it impossible for the Israeli air force to enter the Syrian skies and in the future the Lebanese too. The Russian campaign started with a statement made by the foreign minister stating that Russia will not cancel its deal of the S300 missiles to Syria. In addition, war ships started to move towards Syria and a clear warning was sent by a statement made by President Putin that Russia will not accept any armed attacked against Syria from the outside.

Iran, Syria and Hezbollah are planning carefully their next steps in which no military reaction was made by the Syrian regime while several movements were noticed in the Golan occupied heights that Israel is worried of. Since the seventies, Israel moved no tanks into the Jabal Sheikh until a couple of days ago when several missiles fell on the top of the mountain. The plan seems to be to give the green light to Hezbollah to start its operations and activities through the Syrian borders with Israel that were silent for the last forty years. At the same time, Hezbollah continues to maintain more and more developed missiles that would not make it easy for Israel to start an air attack against Lebanese targets.

The Russian support for Syria makes it more complicated for the U.S and the west to authorize any future attacks against Syria easily. The possibility of rapid developments in the region would make the west reconsider every step before making it. However, this does not mean that soon the U.S or Israel will have to make a decision regarding their plans towards Iran’s nuclear projects. Any former plan that included the involvement of Israel alone in an air attack against Iranian targets is out of discussion now; the reason is the failure in removing Al-Assad’s regime and the continuous arming of Hezbollah and Syria with missiles that can reach specific targets through most of the north of Israel. This means that other powers such as turkey, the U.S forces in the region and other countries will have to be a part of any possible armed campaign against Syria. Turkey does not seem to be giving its final agreement to be part of any attack but the at same time continues to give calming signs to the U.S that it is an ally of the latter and its allies in the region.

By the end of 2013 it will be hard to predict what will be happening but this summer seems to be a very hot one in which any sudden event would make a rapid development in the situation.

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The Syrian leadership stated that the Israeli attack is a declaration of war between both countries, while other Syrian officials stated that Syria would respond to the Israeli attacks. Al-Mayadeen, a satellite TV channel close to Hezbollah and Syria stated that both sides agreed to respond to the Israeli attacks in the next days. Everything changed as if no silence was on the borders between Israel and Syria in the last forty years. Expecting a confrontation between Syria and Israel is different in its kind since they are both countries. The Israeli observance of the Syrian street reaction didn’t bring the expected satisfaction for Israel; most of the Syrians condemned the Israeli attacks and many Arabs felt that again an Arab country is being attacked by Israel while the International community forgets everything that is related to what the International law says when talking about hegemony and independence.

Some thought that the Israeli attacks would be justified because of the Syrian civil war in which Israel would look like a supporter of the revolutionaries in Syria. However, the picture is completely different; Israel is still seen as the enemy that gets itself involved in the Arab matters only for one matter which is to make anything needed to maintain Israel’s security and keep its “Deterrence power”.

The Israeli attack on Syria has nothing to do with the Syrian civil war or any kind of missiles, which Israel claimed that Syria is sending to Hezbollah. The Israeli attack on Syria sends a message on a higher international level that Israel and the U.S do not see in Syria a challenging enemy and that both would do anything to earn the strategic importance of Syria in the region. This message takes Moscow, Damascus, Lebanon and Iran into one of the most important exams of their alliance. This exam is completely different from the one that the Soviet Union had to go through with the Arab allies in the sixties and ended with a failure. It is different because it comes after the cold war in a time where economy, military strategies and situation of the Middle East are completely different.

Any decision to react to the Israeli attack would not come from Damascus but would definitely include an agreement from Moscow and Tehran. Making such a decision is not easy because the Israeli attack was made to push President Al-Asad into reacting in order to get the needed reason to start a wide operation against what is left from his army. In addition Syria’s allies; Moscow and China would prefer political reaction including a harsh condemning of the Israeli attack rather than giving the needed agreement for Al-Asad to make an action that would start a regional conflict. Israel knows this very well but what keeps it worried is not the main powers that play according to the International norms and expectations; it is worried because of the possible war by proxy that Syria would start through Hezbollah and the Palestinian movements that are loyal to the Syrian regime.

These movements aren’t countries and are known for fighting as combatants far away from any direct confrontation. This means a situation of chaos on all the Lebanese and Syrian borders with Israel while keeping in mind the possibility of attacking Israeli targets worldwide. It is true that Syria cannot react directly but it is highly expected that minor allies of the Syrian regime would launch a wide campaign of attacks because of the last Israeli attack.

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We agree that Syria is on the brink of fragmentation, both ethnical and geographical. This is rightly so, due to the country’s ethno-religious structure, which consists of Kurds, Alawites, and Sunnis, in addition to other minorities such as the Christians, Yezidi, and Druze. Each is emerging with strategic goals of their own since the eruption of the Syrian Arab Spring revolution two years ago.

In one way or another, the Brahimi is suggesting that Syria divisions will bring more than just tragedies to the Syrian people—it will not be just another Sunni-Shiite divide as in Iraq. Syria varies geographically and politically from Iraq, for instance. First, despite the presence of the same ethnic and religious communities in both countries, oil is the reason for Iraqi national unity (even if it’s only a hypothetical unity). Second, unlike Iraq, which was helped by the United States in its transitional phase, Syria is being left alone to face its destiny.

Complicating the matter is that the ethnic combination of Syria’s population is difficult to reconcile. There the Alawites fear submission to Sunnis once they are in power—e especially if the type of future government will be a typical Salafi one. There the Kurds and the unlikelihood of joining the Sunnis, as there is no mutual goal between the two, would rather make a deal with the Kurds of Kurdistan Iraq. As a matter of fact, there is already an ongoing conflict between the Syrian Kurds and the current Syrian Free Army, as the Kurds are pushing for independence following the Iraqi model.

If we look at the map of Syria, we will understand the Syrian Kurds’ motive for independence, as they settle in the north part of the country where it’s potentially rich in resources and encouraging for economic independence. Likewise, the idea of independence is still feasible for the Alawites who are living in east part of the country, overlooking the main ports of the Mediterranean. What remains difficult to achieve is the independence for the remaining 60% of the population—the Sunnis living in the scarce central parts of Syria.

Irreversibly, the civil war in Syria will lead to a similar civil war in Iraq among Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. Dividing Syria will have dire consequences not only on Syria itself but also on the region as a whole and potentially change its geographical map.

The post Syria is on the Brink of Divide – By Miaad Hassan appeared first on Middle East Post.

The Israeli operation came after two days of warnings and threats to target any weapons that would be moved from Syria to Lebanon. Israel’s biggest fear is that a part of the chemical weapons that Syrian President Alasaad holds would be move into the control of the Lebanese armed organization Hezbollah.

The Israeli action is the first from its kind since the end of the last Israeli Lebanese war in which this action would result in a development and another rounds of confrontation between both sides. The US based Al-Monitor website reported Tuesday that Israeli army Intelligence Chief Major General Kochavi traveled to Washington for closed door consultations with American officials.

Israeli Air Force Chief Major General Eshel warned in a speech he made on Tuesday that Israel will not sit without doing anything regarding the developments in Syria and the chaos that would result in the fall of the Syrian chemical weapons into the hands of Hezbollah and other extreme Islamist movements. However, Major General Eshel concentrated on the success that the Israeli Air Force would bring by hitting targets from the air and did not mention anything about any involvement from the ground.

The recent Israeli hit of targets within the Lebanese borders would result in a reaction that would lead into a confrontation that was not expected. Any armed confrontation between both sides would definitely affect on stability in the region and bring into it several other actors especially that Syria is already pushed into a non-stop violence circle.

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According to The New York Times, President Obama is making every possible effort to convince the Israelis not to attack Iran at the meanwhile. The American administration is developing a package of threats and diplomatic warnings to the Iranian regime regarding its nuclear projects. The package according to Nytimes includes a range of steps short of war that includes a red line and a description of what would cause an American armed operation against Iran. Nytimes also published that the U.S will later this month hold the largest minesweeping exercise in the Persian Gulf that is expected to be considered a defensive step to prevent Iran from attempting to block oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz. On the other side, Iran announced that it would be holding defensive exercises this fall.

The Israelis are not satisfied and this is clear in both the statements of the Israeli government and the Israeli media that is preparing day and night for a war with Iran that is shown as inevitable. Yesterday 2nd of September 2012, Israeli Prime Minister criticizes President Obama for “being too vague about how far Iran can go. According to Nytimes, Netanyahu said: “The international community is not setting Iran a clear red line, and Iran does not see international determination to stop its nuclear project,” he told his cabinet. “Until Iran sees a clear red line and such determination, it will not stop the progress of its nuclear project — and Iran must not be allowed to have nuclear weapons.” Not only that, but it was clearly lately that Netanyahu’s government even tried to get involved in the American elections and support the Republican candidate Romney who seemed to hold closer opinions with Netanyahu.

The Israeli media is not satisfied too; Yadeot Ahronot published yesterday the 2nd of September 2012 that the U.S has been sending messages to the Iranian regime. Shemon Shefer wrote that the American administration sent clear messages through European diplomats to the Iranians that the U.S WILL NOT take part in any possible Israeli attack against Iran. The messages according to Yadeot Ahronot included an American request from Iran not to attack any American targets in the gulf area because it will not be leaded after the Israeli attempts to start a regional war in the Middle East. This is considered a failure in the eyes of the Israelis who are demanding a stricter stand form the American administration that includes a clear message that the U.S will attack Iran unless the latter cooperates and gives up its nuclear projects.

Economy seems to be the most important subject in the next American Presidential Elections. Any kind of war between the U.S and Iran would definitely result in affecting the Oil Industry that depends largely on the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranians stated several times that they would close the Strait of Hormuz if the West or Israel attacks them. Not only that, but the Iranians also succeeded in making a political achievement through the non-aligned summit that was held in Iran lately. Adding to that, the strong relations that connect Iran with Russia and China today. The Russians refused to allow a Western military involvement in Syria that is a minor ally when compared to Iran and the mutual interests it holds with Russia when talking about Oil and different industries.

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