Yesterday Iran and Syria signed a deal for defence cooperation. This came at a time when Washington is all set to place more back breaking sanctions upon Iran after the end of the short lived Iran nuclear deal. These steps would mostly be aimed at curbing Iran’s allegedly malign influence in the region. To eventually make it withdraw from Syria and Iraq and stop supporting its armed proxies there. However the agreement between Iran and Syria shows that Tehran doesn’t intend to succumb to any of these threats and wants to cement its partnership with the Middle Eastern nation especially as the civil war is coming to an end.
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Although the treaty signed between Syria and Iran had more to do with defence cooperation. But as expected in the future this shall go even beyond the sphere of military assistance. Syria as a war torn country has almost lost 70 percent of its pre war infrastructure and wants to go with reconstruction fast in order to prevent another possibility of unrest as refugees eventually return from neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan. It would be a daunting task as most Syrian cities have been completely carpet bombed and need reconstruction starting from the most basic infrastructure such as roads and water. Iran as a wartime partner would be the best country to go for reconstruction assistance as the IRGC already operates large heavy construction companies who can do the job well.
However challenges still remain as Saudi Arabia and neighbouring Israel shall do all to eventually force Iran to get out of Syria even if the EU and the US eventually lose interest as they did in the case of the overthrow of the Assad government. In such circumstances stakes remain high for Iran as the situation in the region is still volatile and can erupt at any time, without any forewarning.
