The Syrian cabinet moved on Tuesday to lift the state of emergency that has been in place for 48 years, but protests continue throughout the nation despite the government’s decision. Syria coupled its promises of reform with strong threats to anyone who continued to demonstrate against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

On Wednesday, Syrian protesters pledged to assemble their largest numbers yet for demonstrations on April 22, a date they have begun to call “Great Friday.” Assad has already deployed security forces to quell the anticipated protests. Analysts say it will be a potentially decisive day for the revolt’s momentum.

Although Syria lacks Libya’s wealth or Egypt’s population, it is a critically important regional player because of its location and its crucial relationship with Iran.

The spate of anti-government uprisings throughout the mostly Sunni country, currently ruled by Assad’s Shia regime, began over a month ago, and has already claimed over 200 lives. The revolts intensified on April 15 after Human Rights Watch issued a report detailing “torture and ill-treatment” of demonstrators over the previous month. Rights activists say that Syrian security personnel killed at least 30 protesters throughout Syria on April 17, which was the 65th anniversary of Syria’s independence from French rule.

Damascus’s declarations of reform on Tuesday came a day after tens of thousands of Syrians attended funerals for demonstrators killed on the anniversary. The protesters chanted slogans, which Reuters said were “more hostile” than previous chants, demanding Assad’s ouster. “Either freedom or death, the people want to topple this regime,” mourners said, and “from alleyway to alleyway, from house to house, we want to overthrow you, Bashar.”

A Sunni Majority

Assad comes from Syria’s Alawite minority, which is a branch of Shia Islam, and includes only 6 to 10 percent of Syria’s population. That leaves 90 percent of Syria’s predominantly Sunni population unrepresented by Assad’s government.

As the protests intensify, Assad is coming to realize that often he cannot even trust Syria’s military. At least 10 soldiers have been executed for refusing to fire on protesters, and videos have emerged of troops participating in and even leading some demonstrations.

On Thursday, WikiLeaks released cables revealing that the U.S. State Department has been secretly pumping money into opposition groups in Syria for no less than five years. Even after Washington initiated its reengagement policy with Syria in 2009, the assistance continued flowing into the opposition outfits. The leaked cables reveal that the United States has given at least $6 million to Barada tv and other Syrian opposition groups.

Why Such a U.S Policy?

Assad has attempted to frighten the West into supporting his regime with claims that a victory for the protesters would mean a victory for radical Islam. Although that is the case in Egypt and Libya, the opposite is true in Syria.

On April 13, Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a correspondent with the Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai and an expert on the Middle East, said Assad “is using the specter of radical Islamism to scare the world into supporting his regime.” Hussain continued:

Those involved in the Syrian uprising, whether on the ground or in cyberspace, might have noticed that, contrary to the Assad regime’s propaganda and the international community’s fears, there are few traces of radical Islamism in Syria. While such an absence could be tactical, evidence indicates that should Bashar al-Assad fall, the chances of Syria turning into an Islamic state are almost nil.

Despite Assad’s attempts at portraying himself as an ally of the West and a force of suppression against radical Islamist elements in Syria, his true allegiance lies with his fellow Shiites in Tehran.

On surface level, Syria and Iran seem like unlikely bedfellows. Syria is Arab, and the government is secular. Iran is a non-Arab state, and is an Islamic Republic. Syria is comprised mostly of Sunni Muslims. Iran is overwhelmingly Shiite.

The Iranian-Syrian partnership is a marriage of convenience, but it’s an alliance that has proved resilient over the decades, largely because of mutual enemies like Saddam Hussein’s Iraq and the nation of Israel.

Washington has funded Assad’s opponents because, under Assad, Syria is heavily influenced by the U.S.’s antagonist, Iran. Syria has long been a gateway through which Tehran has extended its reach into the Middle East. Regime change in Syria would equate to a reduction of that Iranian influence.

Iran will not sit idly by as Assad is overthrown.

Recognizing what it stands to lose from a Syrian revolution, Tehran is assisting Assad’s regime to suppress the protesters in Syria. Ryan Mauro, the national security advisor to the Christian Action Network, said on Monday that “Iran is rushing to the aid of the Assad regime.” The Reform Party of Syria said that the country’s generals are now reporting to an Iranian Revolutionary Guard base located in Syria. Some analysts wonder why Assad has not dealt a fatal blow to the revolt, especially since his father, Hafez, slaughtered around 20,000 Syrians back in 1982 in order to halt a Sunni uprising in the city of Hama. Assad is likely torn between the unreliability of the Syrian military and instructions from Tehran.

Iran wants to hold on to its strategic ally, and will go to great measures to support Assad. But Tehran won’t be able to maintain its hold on Syria forever.

On March 31, Trumpet columnist Brad Macdonald wrote that the unrest in Syria “has the mullahs in Iran sweating bullets,” and explained that they are right to be concerned:

[S]ooner or later, one way or another—and perhaps even as a result of the current crisis, which is fluid and evolving daily—Iran will lose its most pivotal ally. Iran’s mullahs ought to be sweating. Not because the United States is about to exploit the unrest in Syria to drive a wedge between Tehran and Damascus—but because Bible prophecy says a divorce is inevitable.

“Great Friday” may come and go without effecting significant changes, but a great shift in Syria’s allegiance is on the horizon. A divorce between Tehran and Damascus is inevitable. To understand more about the key prophecy in Psalm 83 that this prediction is based on—which is in the process of being fulfilled—read The King of the South. Also, read “A Mysterious Prophecy,” by Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry, an article about the Psalm 83 alliance and its imminent fulfillment.