Iran has begun establishing new contacts with rebels in Syria's new leadership after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad's regime, a senior Iranian official said in an interview with Reuters on Monday .
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Hours after Assad's downfall, Iran said it expected relations with Damascus to continue on the basis of the two countries ' "far-sighted and wise approach" and called for an inclusive government representing all sectors of Syrian society.
It is noted that there is no doubt that Tehran is concerned about how the change of power in Damascus will affect Iran's influence in Syria. but there is no panic, three Iranian officials told Reuters. According to them, Tehran is looking for diplomatic ways to establish contact with people whom one of the officials called "representatives of the new ruling groups in Syria, whose views are closer to those of Iran.
"Iran's main concern is whether Assad's successor will push Syria out of Tehran's orbit," a second Iranian official said. "This is a scenario that Iran is trying to avoid.
Syria after Assad will deprive the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah of a single land supply route and deprive Iran of the main access to the Mediterranean Sea and the "front line" with Israel.
A senior official said Iran's rulers, faced with the loss of an important ally in Damascus and Donald Trump's return to the White House in January, are open to interacting with Syria's new leaders.
"This interaction is key to stabilizing relations and avoiding further regional tensions," the official said.
According to him, Tehran has established contacts with two groups within the new leadership, and the level of cooperation will be assessed in the coming days after the meeting in the Supreme National Security Council of Iran.
Two Iranian officials said Tehran feared Trump would use the removal of Assad as leverage to increase economic and political pressure on Iran "to force it to make concessions or destabilize the Islamic Republic.
After the United States withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with the six major powers in 2018, then-President Trump pursued a policy of "maximum pressure" that led to extreme economic difficulties and exacerbated public discontent in Iran.
In 2020, Trump, as president, ordered a drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, Iran's most influential military leader.
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Iran spent billions of dollars to support Assad during the 2011 Syrian Civil War and sent its Islamic Revolutionary Guards to Syria to keep its ally in power and maintain Tehran's "axis of resistance" to Israel and U.S. influence in the Middle East.
The fall of Assad removes a critical link in Iran's regional chain of resistance, which served as an important transit route for Tehran to supply weapons and finance its puppets, particularly Hezbollah.