iran cooked its international reputation. it starts wars but can't finish them. at least russia has ukraine as an excuse. assad is so cooked. he has no one on his side, no one in his corner, completely alone and isolated on the international stage, even china is telling its citizens to run.  russia and iran are presenting such a weak posturing that they might even make it impossible to secure any diplomatic agreement that ends the war. why would anyone negotiate a settlement with two powers that have clearly checked out of the conflict? why would saa soldiers continue to fight when even their allies have abandoned them? iran and russia are just going to wait and see if homs can hold, but their waiting may cause it to fall.  if homs holds, then they will provide the assistance necessary to negotiate an agreement that ends the war.
United States