Syria’s dependency on Iran and Russia

The rebel attack is the worst fighting in northwest Syria since 2020, when government forces reclaimed areas previously held by resistance fighters, leading to a deal between Russia and Turkey to calm the situation.

Türkiye has backed many different rebel groups and put troops in some areas of northwest Syria.

The United States said that President Bashar al-Assad’s reliance on Moscow and Tehran was to blame for the loss of Aleppo.

Syria’s “reliance on Russia and Iran” and its refusal to move forward with a peace plan put forward by the UN Security Council in 2015 “created the conditions now unfolding,” a spokesman for the National Security Council said on Saturday.

The US is sending troops to northeastern Syria to help the Syrian Kurdish forces fight ISIL (ISIS) rebels.

Serdar from Al Jazeera said that the rebels’ quick advance took the Syrian government off guard. He said that the rebels’ quick advance was because Iran and Hezbollah, two of Syria’s allies, were busy with wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

“Now the question is: Will the regime, Russia, or Iran let HTS take over the second-largest city in Syria, or will they fight back?” Serdar spoke up.

Russia’s air help was key in turning the tide in favor of the government in 2015. On Saturday, Russia and Iran both said they were “extremely concerned” about their ally’s losses.

The Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and the Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi reaffirmed their strong support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, according to a transcript of their call.

Tehran said that Araghchi would go to Damascus on Sunday to have talks. His office said that the Iranian minister will also meet with people in Ankara for talks.

The situation got worse on Saturday, and Lavrov talked about it with his Turkish colleague as well, according to TASS, the Russian state-run news agency.

The ministers agreed, according to the statement, that they needed to work together more to make things more stable in Syria.

With control over most of Idlib province near the border with Turkey, HTS has grown into the most powerful resistance group in northwest Syria.

Russia, Syria, and the US view it as a “terrorist” group.

Al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria used to call HTS al-Nusra Front. However, it changed its name several times and cut ties with al-Qaeda.