Syrian Foreign Policy towards Iran

Syrian Foreign Policy Toward Iran: by Benjamin Zerden

Early Syrian Relations with Post-Shah Iran. 1979-1987

1. Hafez viewed Shah’s Iran relationship with Israel and the U.S as a “hold on the Arab World.”
2. After the revolution and as a testament to the support of the new anti-zionist -Iran, Syrian became the second county after the USSR to recognize the Iranian revolution.

Iraq war on Iran: Syria sided with Iran for two reasons:
1. Iraq was larger and more powerful nieghbour vying with Syria for a leadership role in the arab world. Both Baath ideologies yet regarded as competitors and after the 1966 split in the Arab Baath socialist party into two factions, centered in Baghdad and Syria, competition became fierce.
2. Iraq invasion diverted attention and resources from the Syrian struggle with Israel. Gulf countries that were supporting the Syrian struggle now diverted a lot of its attention and resources to Iraq against the Iranian revolution. Leaving Syria to contend with the Israeli military alone.
3. Iran was taking an aggressive rhetoric against Israel
4. Syria would use its relations with the USSR to move weapons from the USSR bloc to Iran against Iraq as well as deploy troops on the Iraqi borders and shut down the Iraq pipeline that ran through Syria.

The problem this alignment had with the other Arab states:
1. Against Arab unity as it was an alliance with a non arab state against an Arab neighbor
2. Syria did not want to balance the Arab world order against Iran as it meant that it would have to give up some degree and authority to Iraq or Saudi Arabia. Doing this would have not left Syria isolated in the Arab region though.
3. This fallout meant that Syria had to turn to the USSR in 1980 to sign a formal treaty in return for military aid. Syria also received oil from Iran on very favorable terms.
4. Syria was too related to Iran that an Iraq victory would mean a political defeat in hegemony for Syria.
5. The intergration of Egypt into the Arab community after te 1979 peace treaty with Israel meant that another powerful state joined the mainstream Arab affairs leaving Syria further marginalized.

Syria-Iranian involvement in Lebanon and the Rise of Hezbollah 1982-1990
1. Syria maintained a presence in Lebanon that engaged in warfare with Israel following the 1982 civil war with the PLO.
2. Syria at first retreated from Beirut and consolidated the forces in southern Lebanon.
3. Syria used proxy wars to fight Israel through the Muslim groups such as the Shiites, the Palestinians, the Druze through the arms received from the USSR which led to Israeli American withdrawal.
4. Syrian support of Hezbollah was risky as they are hard to control yet a calculated strategic move to use Hezbollah as leverage against Israel which would later come useful in settlement talks. Especially when talks are not favoring the Syrian side. E.g operation accountability in 1993 and operation Grapes of wrath in 1996.

Syrian-Lebanese relations regarding Lebanon:
1. Mutual interest in the support of the Shiite militias in Lebanon
2. Syria acted as a gatekeeper for the Iranian-Lebanese Shiite relations.
3. Iranian revolution guard troops to train the Shiite community to resist Israel and help consolidate Syria’s grip on Lebanon.

Syria Post Cold War
1. Iran, looking more inwards and removed itself from regional and international spotlight could not offer much economic assistance to Syria.
2. Syria was the main client of the USSR in the region and that was its main source of power. Unlike Egypt which had better international integration, size and U.S patronage. Iraq had wealth.
3. Assad needed to recognize the reality and redefine Syria to adjust for the new world order.
4. Aided U.S coalition to compel Iraq out of Kuwait. This also had a better Syrian integration with the rest of the Arab community.
5. Joined the Madrid Framework where it held talks with Israel to settle the Golan Height and build new relations with the Americans.
6. IT was hard to maintain a balance between trying to secure good relations with the U.S while maintaining a domestic legitimacy with the Sunni majority that opposed the peace talks with Israel and does not accept compromise as weekness.

Syria post 200
1. Withdrawl from Lebanon in 2005 but still viewed Lebanon as a territory within its sphere of influence. With the withdrawl, they also lost Lebanese elements such as Hezbollah
2. Lebaon still presented itself as huge economic assets in terms of employment and corruption.
3. Hezbollah and Syria, while still mainting some common interst began to assert more distinct policies is in 2006, Hezbollah showed that they have autonomy of decision making as well as operational.
4. 2003 Iraw war, Syria opposed the intervention and aligned with Iran to help reduce U.S hegemony in the region.