The Syrian Army is preparing to launch a large-scale military offensive in the northern parts of Syria’s Hama Province, the Iranian media reports.
This essay discusses Hezbollah’s gradual acceptance of Lebanon’s sectarian political system, the means by which it has achieved hegemony over Lebanon’s Shiite population, and how its intervention in Syria has accentuated sectarianism and Sunni-Shiite tensions in Lebanon.
The spokesman of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) reiterated today that its forces will play a leading role in military operations in the Iraqi provinces of Nineveh and Kirkuk – particularly in the strategic city of Tal Afar in western Mosul. “The Popular Mobilization Forces have a commanding and extensive presence and participation in operational zones in Nineveh Province,” P.M.F.
The commander of Iran’s Army Ground Forces has announced an increase in the number and range of drones used during the Ground Forces’ operations across the country.
A top Iranian military commander has announced that the country’s Army Ground Force will commence the production lines of four “strategic” military products in the current Iranian year, wh
President Donald Trump’s decision last week to militarily punish the regime of Bashar al Assad for using chemical weapons caught Syria’s closest ally Iran by surprise. Political and military leaders in Tehran are still uncertain whether the U.S. strikes were a one-time mission or represented a sea change in Washington’s policy in Syria. The Islamic Republic hopes it was the former, but there is a growing concern in Tehran that it may be the beginning of concerted efforts by Washington and its regional Sunni allies to topple Iran’s ally in Damascus.
Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan today had separate phone conversations with his Russian and Syrian counterparts and warned that the United States should pay a heavy price for any future attacks against the regime of Iran’s ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the Iranian media reported.
In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Paul Salem, Randa Slim, Charles Lister, Gonul Tol, and Alex Vatanka provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the need for an overarching strategy in Syria following U.S. airstrikes, Secretary of State Tillerson’s upcoming visit to Moscow, the likely aftermath of U.S. airstrikes in Syria, Turkey’s growing frustration with U.S. strategy in Syria, and the rise of a hardliner challenger to Rouhani in the upcoming Iranian presidential election.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has said that the United States committed a “strategic mistake” by attacking Syria, the Iranian media reported.
A joint operational command center of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s foreign backers has warned that it will forcefully respond to any future U.S. military attack against Syria, the Iranian media reports.
