Syria mulls pulling out of Iran’s orbit

Last week, Syrian President Bashar Assad visited the United Arab Emirates, his first foreign trip since the Syrian uprising in 2011. The U.S. State Department issued a stern statement taking issue with the attempt to legitimize Assad’s rule, given the horrendous crimes he committed in a war that has killed more than 500,000 Syrians and has left 150,000 missing. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. rejects efforts to rehabilitate Assad and his regime. But the trip followed years of normalization efforts between Arab countries and the Syrian government. …

[F]or  Assad, one of the top goals of the visit was to enlist Abu Dhabi’s support in curbing Iran’s influence in Syria, marking a policy shift that Washington will likely support.