Running Iran Out of Syria

Squabbling between the main external players in Syria’s civil war is nothing new. But last week a fresh fissure opened in an unexpected place — Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that all foreign forces would ultimately have to leave Syria, and his foreign ministry hastened to clarify that this specifically included Iranian troops and their proxies in Hizbullah. Tehran promptly reminded the world that “no one can tell us to leave Syria.”

Russia and Iran have both backed Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad, and their support is a major reason he’s clung to power through seven years of war. But as the Syrian conflict grinds down, the post-war winds might begin to blow against Iran.

For one thing, clashes between Israel and Iranian forces located in Syria have grown recently, raising the prospect of a serious conflict between the Jewish state and the Islamic Republic.

From Putin’s perspective, it would be a shame for ongoing Israel-Iran tensions to further destabilize a perfectly good Kremlin client state right in the heart of the Middle East. In the short term that means mediating between Jerusalem and Tehran. But in the longer term, it may mean giving Iran the boot from Syria.

Meanwhile, from the perspective of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — who met with Putin a couple weeks ago — a cold peace with a Russian-backed Assad is probably perfectly acceptable (Israel was entirely pragmatic in dealing with Assad’s father), provided that Iranian forces are squeezed out of Syria.

And as Damascus sees it, a stable border with Israel and the protection and support of a distant patron in Moscow may be preferable to the more destabilizing long-term presence of Iranian forces who, some analysts say, Syria’s own military brass doesn’t want around anyway.

The big loser here, of course, would be Iran, which has put thousands of its best troops — and Hizbullah proxies — on the line to save Bashar al-Assad’s neck. You can bet that Iranian hardliners — confronted with the collapse of the Iran deal and a more hostile US policy generally — won’t accept being pushed out of a Syrian peace easily. The bloody kaleidoscope of external influence in Syria’s civil war may be about to take a fresh turn.

More from GZERO Media

More than 60% of Walmart suppliers are small businesses.* Through a $350 billion investment in products made, grown, or assembled in the US, Walmart is helping these businesses expand, create jobs, and thrive. This effort is expected to support the creation of over 750,000 new American jobs by 2030, empowering companies like Athletic Brewing, Bon Appésweet, and Milo’s Tea to grow their teams, scale their production, and strengthen the communities they call home. Learn more about Walmart's commitment to US manufacturing. *See website for additional details.

Last month, Microsoft released its 2025 Responsible AI Transparency Report, demonstrating the company’s sustained commitment to earning trust at a pace that matches AI innovation. The report outlines new developments in how we build and deploy AI systems responsibly, how we support our customers, and how we learn, evolve, and grow. It highlights our strengthened incident response processes, enhanced risk assessments and mitigations, and proactive regulatory alignment. It also covers new tools and practices we offer our customers to support their AI risk governance efforts, as well as how we work with stakeholders around the world to work towards governance approaches that build trust. You can read the report here.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Democratic Republic of the Congo's Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and Rwanda's Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe on June 27, 2025.
REUTERS

On June 27, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda signed a US-mediated peace accord in Washington, D.C., to end decades of violence in the DRC’s resource-rich Great Lakes region. The agreement commits both nations to cease hostilities, withdraw troops, and to end support for armed groups operating in eastern Congowithin 90 days.