Russia and Iran are Working to Kick United States Troops Out of Syria
Jose Nino
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According to a report published by Al-Monitor on July 14, 2023, a leading United States military official was reported to have said that Russian and Iranian forces operating in Syria have been working together with the specific goal of kicking US troops out of the country.
The official claimed that “he’s seen signs that Russian military commanders in Syria have been quietly coordinating with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on long-term plans to pressure the United States to withdraw its forces” from Syria, the Al-Monitor report noted.
“There’s a confluence of interests between those three groups, the Iranians, the Russians, and the Syrians. I see evidence of operational-level planning between mid-level Quds Force leadership that’s operating in Syria [and] Russian forces that are operating in Syria,” an anonymous official said to the outlet.
Per the official, the Russian-Iranian cooperation in Syria is focused on “collaborative planning, collaborative understanding, and intelligence sharing … [at the] mid-level to upper echelon” of Russia’s and Iran’’s armies.
“Frankly, [it’s] the same sorts of things that we would do with our partners in the face of something we were trying to accomplish. We see them doing that on their side, as they try to think about how they sync the different things that different arms of them are doing in order to put that pressure on us,” the source continued.
In recent months, the US has continued to bolster its occupation in Syria, especially in Syria’s northeast region, which is oil-laden. In the occupied city of Hasakah, local sources informed Syrian news outlet SANA that significant deliveries of US logistical equipment and cement were transported into the region.
These reinforcements have been sent for months, especially after an uptick in Iranian-connected attacks launched against US bases in Syria in 2023.
Per Al-Monitor, “Pentagon officials deny their forces’ actions in Syria have had anything to do with Russian and Iranian provocations,” adding that American authorities believe its recent responses “have arrested the escalation cycle for now.”
Over the last two years, Iranian-backed militant groups have launched repeated attacks on US bases in Syria. In early 2023, US military installations across Syria have been subject to increased levels of drone and missile attacks.
Back in March, a strike resulted in the death of a US military contractor stationed at a base in Hasakah. As a response to this attack, US forces bombed Deir Ezzor, which resulted in the deaths of several Syrian and Iranian military officers. Shortly after the American strikes, militants launched attacks against two additional occupation bases.
The attacks against American facilities have “fallen silent” since the attacks on Deir Ezzor, per the Al-Monitor report.
US Army General Douglas Sims said to reporters: “We don’t anticipate an issue, nor do we see a level of escalation we’re concerned about in Syria.”
Nevertheless, the Al-Monitor report revealed that US forces in Syria remain “vulnerable.”
In June, a leaked Pentagon document exposed how Russia and Iran reached an agreement to build a joint operations room in Syria to launch coordinated attacks against the US in Syria.
Indeed, the multipolar world will not be kind to the US. It simply can’t throw its weight around the globe without expecting some form of resistance.
At some point, policymakers will need to reassess their policies and start considering the virtues of foreign policy retrenchment. If not, the US will be handed a nasty foreign policy reversal that most people are not willing to stomach.
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