Introduction: An Overview

The aim of this chapter is to analyse Iran's Syria policy within the broad context of Tehran's regional policies and regional security concerns. Although the origins of the current Syrian conflict are complex, heterogenous and beyond the scope of this chapter, what is important to note is that the new ‘Middle East cold war’ between Iran and Saudi Arabia has added a new layer to the evolving Syrian conflict. In addition, as Christopher Phillips has noted, several other players have exacerbated the tragedy in Syria by intervening to advance their own regional goals. In April 2017, the Trump administration's unilateral airstrike against Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians suggested the possibility of a creeping US military intervention and a self-admitted plan to ‘destabilize Syria’. Thus, instead of a remapping of the Syrian conflict in the direction of a peaceful political transition and the sustained restoration of peace, the continuation of the Syrian conflict until recently seemed to have become a distinct possibility for the foreseeable future. However, the gradual steps taken since 2020 by some Arab countries towards a rapprochement with Damascus may signal a thaw in the Syrian imbroglio.

There is already a growing body of literature tracing the current conflict in Syria to the cycle of violence that followed the spread of the ‘Arab Spring’ in early 2011. The ensuing war in Syria emerged as a crisis not only for Damascus but also for Tehran and the ‘Axis of Resistance’ that included Iran, Syria and Lebanon's Hezbollah, as well as the Palestinian group Hamas. This regionalalliance, solidified by a hitherto confidential military pact between Iran and Syria in 2006, self-articulated in terms of hostility to Israel, opposition to US hegemony in the Middle East and antagonism towards pro-Western Arab status quo powers, most notably Saudi Arabia and Egypt under Mubarak. Inevitably, the evolution of the Iran nuclear crisis with its distinct security dimension had definite repercussions for this alliance. That is, from Iran's perspective, this alliance served the country as a deterrent against the threat of military strike by Israel and/or the US on its nuclear facilities.