Pentagon braces for emboldened Iran after Syria gains
The Pentagon’s top commander in the Middle East told lawmakers today that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s gains in the yearslong civil war will bolster Iran’s ability to frustrate US aims in the region.
America’s top military commander in the Middle East told Congress today that President Bashar al-Assad’s recent gains in the Syrian civil war will enhance Iran’s ability to support proxy groups in the region.
Chief of US Central Command Joseph Votel told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the intervention by Iran and Russia has proven decisive in bolstering the embattled Syrian leader. Assad appears on the verge of regaining opposition-held holdouts in Idlib province and the Damascus suburbs.
“From a civil war standpoint, it would appear that the regime is ascendant here,” Votel told Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. “It means that we will contend with the influence of Iran.”
Votel did not disagree with the senator’s characterization that Assad’s forces had “won” the war with the help of Iran and Russia.
