Mohammad Zahid Gul, in his latest article, published on Orient Net Arabic, speaks about Russia’s military intervention in Syria and the possibilities of its defeat there.
Gul starts by suggesting that Russia’s declaration of withdrawing its troops from Syria after involving them in an abrupt military intervention was indicative of a change in its stance towards what’s happening in Syria, and it means that Russian administration has amended its military and political plans in Syria.
The author continues to say that there has been a disagreement between Iran and Bashar Assad on the one side and Russia on the other. The main reason for this disagreement, according to Gul, is that Russia did not come to Syria to fight endless battles, rather to achieve its military interests in Syria.
“Iran and Bashar Assad, however, wanted the Russian role to be limited to helping and serving the Iranian strategy in the Middle East,” Gul adds.
Thus, the first reason for Russia’ defeat in Syria would be the discrepancy in objectives between Russians and the sectarian axis of Iran regarding the Russian intervention, the author deducts.
Gul then states that Russia’s favoring of Iran was seen as unusual and strange by peoples of the region because the Russian-Iranian cooperation is based on economic interests. However, Iran itself does not count on this cooperation with Russia since the latter did not help Iran much in the days of embargo by the west.
Another important reason for Russia’s defeat in Syria is keeping the alliance with the losing Iranians, according to the author.
The author suggests that the third reason for Russia’s defeat in Syria is that the Iranian and American deceit has been exposed to the Russians, as the former lied to Russia regarding the nature of battles in Syria, and the latter encouraged Russia to get involved in Syria.
This confirms that the Russian presence in Syria is in a state of attrition both on military and political levels, which Russia cannot stand on the long run, according to the author.
“Russian administration will not bear a long-term war, and is ready to cooperate with Turkey to find a solution in Syria, whether Iran agrees on the details or not,” Gul concludes
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