Iran’s intervention in Syria is not particularly popular at home, according to independent Iranian observers. But Iran’s national security policymakers favor it, according to Foreign Policy
Iran’s policymakers believe they can reap the benefits of sensible responses to two decades of violent American blundering in the Middle East. Like them or not, their worldview is coherent.
Tehran warned the U.S. invasion of Iraq would be a disaster for the region–and so it was. The Iraqi state was destroyed and the Sunni jihadists gained a whole new battlefield, thanks to Bush and Cheney’s ill-conceived invasion.
Tehran predicted the new Iraqi government would resist American domination–and so it has. While the U.S. still has a large military footprint in Iraq, But ran has its own military, commercial, and religious presence, which give it a much broader field of influence in a country that was previously a hostile foe.
Iran warned that Saudi Arabia’s war on Yemen would prove to be fruitless humanitarian catastrophe–and it has. The cruel toll on civilians discredits Saudi Arabia, Iran’s chief rival in the region.
So Iran’s military and intelligence officials who hold sway on the country’s Syria policy are respectful of, but not deterred, by Israeli attacks and threats. They ignore Trumpian bluster and pay attention to the situation on the ground. Inside Syria, they believe they are winning.
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Source: Iran Wants to Stay in Syria Forever – Foreign Policy
