russia and iran are not allies of each other. they both independently intervened in syria to help their ally, not as a coalition. however, bashar al-assad's games over the last year or two have had both iran and russia fed up, having refused to hold talks with turkey over a settlement of the conflict and with it the return of internally displaced people (6m in the rebel-held north) and refugees (4m in turkey, and another 1.5m in lebanon before half returned to syria after israel began its genocidal rampage). more recently, bashar's been double-dealing by holding secret talks with the us and uae to more distance himself from iran and hezbollah in exchange for sanctions relief by enforcing an arms blockade over syrian territory against iran-aligned groups. if and once turkey assured iran that shia minorities and holy sites wouldn't be harmed by the rebel assault, iran now basically had even less reason to fight to save bashar's ass again. russia and bashar's constant bombardment of the rebel-held north since august 2023 with artillery and airstrikes didn't do anyone any favors. last month, they blew up a powerplant, which is very likely why the rebels planned the assault. once the peace agreement between hezbollah and israel went into effect, turkey basically gave its greenlight. >   scussed-lifting-assad-sanctions-exc hange-break-with-iran-sources-say-2 024-12-02/ >   /2024/12/03/syria-rebel-assad-weapo ns-deal-hezbollah/ >   s/1865112841558061241
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