As U.S. withdraws, Iran’s influence swells
Soon after announcing US withdrawal from Syria, the Trump administration crowed about Iran’s retreat. In reality, within Syria and across the region, Iran has gained ground. Against this backdrop of retreating American power and growing Iranian influence, traditional US allies hunt for alternate support. “Every part of the Middle East and other places that was under attack was under attack because of Iran,” President Donald Trump claimed at a January 2 cabinet meeting. “Iran is pulling people out of Syria…pulling people out of Yemen…we are hitting them very hard.” On January 10, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo added: “Nations are rallying to our side to confront the [Iranian] regime like never before.”
The facts do not square with the Trump administration’s declarations.
The United States, not Iran, is leaving Syria as Trump announced December 19. American troops were to leave within 30 days, however, the Pentagon began withdrawing only equipment. Unlike Trump, the US military seeks to forestall Bashar al-Assad’s forces, buttressed by Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Shiite militiamen recruited from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia, from retaking all of Syria.
The United States is abandoning its allies the Kurds of Syria and the Free Syrian Army. A nationalistic Kurdish population is spread across Turkish, Iraqi, Syrian and Iranian borders. Turkey has publicly committed itself to eliminating Kurds. Iran, too, regards them as terrorists and secessionists. Within Syria, Kurdish forces hold captive Islamic State fighters from around the world. As the Kurds fall to Turks and Iranians, those terrorists may go free to target the US and other nations. The Assad regime and Iranian reinforcements will attack other rebels mercilessly, then root out resistance among ordinary Syrians.
At the January 2 cabinet meeting, Trump was emphatic: “We don’t want Syria…we are not talking about vast wealth, we are talking about sand and death…they [Iran] can do there what they want.” Tehran reiterated steadfastness to its allies with IRGC commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari declaring on January 17 that Iran “will keep its military, revolutionary advisers, and weapons” in Syria. US withdrawal opens Iran’s access to naval and aircraft bases along the Mediterranean Sea and secures pathways to support Hezbollah in Lebanon. Threats to Israel and Europe will increase.