Iran fears that the way things are tuning out in Syria may not benefit Iranian interests. Iranian newspapers have recently publicized editorials which criticize and prove Russia overlooks or ignores vital Iranian interests in the Syrian region.
In a special report of the Intelligence and Terror Information Center, Dr. Raz Ciment publicized this phenomenon, pointing out that ”Iranian criticism of Russia is not something new considering the deeply imbedded mistrust they have for Russia and its ambitions for the region. However the new Iranian editorials coming out lately show the mistrust has escalated since Aleppo fell into the hands of the Syrian regime and the cease fire brokered by Syria and Turkey, leaving Iran by the wayside.”
Dr. Ciment reports that there was increased military cooperation between Russia and Iran in Syria this past year, the climax being Russian warplanes using the Hamadan air base in Iran this past August from which to attack rebels in Syria. There are constant updates taking place between senior Russian and Iranian diplomats pertaining to Syria.
Iran on one hand stressed the importance of this cooperation with Russia in general and even more so pertaining to Syria. On the other hand they strongly disagreed with Russia’s military and diplomatic processes that were done without Iranian involvement especially after the capture of Aleppo and brokering its cease fire, according to Dr. Ciment.
The Intelligence and Terror Information Center believes that Iran and Russia’s mutual interests are still deep enough to warrant continuation of their cooperation on the Syrian front. Both Russia and Iran agree a central issue is not letting Syria fall into the hands of Jihadi’s or Islamic rebels who are their common enemy. Another common goal is keeping western influence out of the region. So as long as there’s a civil war in Syria they both will continue their military and diplomatic cooperation even if there are occasional spats between them.
The center points out, those differences occur because both Russia and Iran have ambitions of controlling Syria or at least yielding a strong influence on it. Also they both have a different outlook pertaining to relations with Israel and other countries in the region. These differences can intensify and perhaps even cause outbursts when forming a diplomatic framework to decide the fate of President Assad, whose continued control of Syria is paramount to Iran.
