there was a serious of coups: 1949 syrian coup d'tat 1954 syrian coup d'tat 1961 syrian coup d'tat 1962 syrian coup attempt 1963 syrian coup d'tat 1966 syrian coup d'tat 1984 syrian coup attempt hafez al-assad became 'defence minister' following the 1966 coup. hafez later waged a bloodless coup against the 'president' nureddin al-atassi and his 'chief of staff' salah jadid in november 1970, whereby he became 'prime minister'. he took the seat of 'president' in march 1971. hafez's brother, rifaat al-assad attempted a coup in the second quarter of 1984, after which he was forced into exile. rifaat was also given the 'vice president' title until that was stripped in 1998. hafez died in june 2000, and bashar al-assad came to power in july. iran and syria got closer thereafter and became allies. hafez's syria and iran supported opposing sides in the 1980s during the lebanese civil war.
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