This individual is a guest contributor. MEI is not able to assist with contact requests.
Shiar Youssef, from Syria, is the head of Naame Shaam‘s Research and Advocacy team. Naame Shaam, which means “Letter from Syria” in Persian, is a group of Iranian, Syrian, and Lebanese activists and citizen journalists focusing on exposing the Iranian regime’s role in Syria.
It is no longer accurate to describe the war in Syria as a conflict between Syrian rebels on the one hand and Bashar al-Assad’s regime forces “supported” by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRG), Hezbollah, and Iraqi militias on the other. Most major battles in Syria—along the frontlines of regime-held areas—are now being directed and fought by the IRG and Hezbollah, along with other non-Syrian Shi‘i militias, with Assad forces in a supportive or secondary role.
