Sharaa was born in Saudi Arabia, where his father worked, and spent the first seven years of his life there before the family returned to their native Damascus.
Iran was a major loser in the Israeli-Hamas war, the Israeli-Hezbollah war, and the ouster of the Assad regime in Damascus. Under the Sharaa administration, Iran is excluded from the political stage and its regional influence has hit its lowest point. Although Saudi Arabia and Iran ended a seven-year diplomatic freeze in 2023, and their normalization is holding well, distancing Tehran from Damascus was a strategic goal for both Washington and Riyadh.
Iran spent an estimated $30-50 billion (almost --29 billion to --48 billion) in Syria to ensure the Assad regime's stability over the last thirteen years.
Russia seeks to participate in the reconstruction of Syria, while it hopes to retain two vital military bases on the Mediterranean Sea, a naval port at Tartus and an airfield near Latakia, which had enabled Moscow to project influence in the Middle East and Africa, and their loss would be a significant strategic setback.
On January 29, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Alexander Lavrentyev, Russian special envoy on Syria, met for three hours with Sharaa and Shaibani in Damascus.
Syria's new leadership urged Moscow to "address past mistakes" during the talks and covered "justice for the victims of the brutal war waged by al-Assad's regime".
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment on reports that Sharaa had requested Assad's extradition to Syria. Moscow was one of Assad's key supporters, intervening in Syria's civil war in 2015 in his favor.
In December, Sharaa recalled the "deep strategic interests between Russia and Syria" in an interview with Al Arabiya.
"All Syria's arms are of Russian origin, and many power plants are managed by Russian experts... We do not want Russia to leave Syria in the way that some wish," he said at the time, leaving the door slightly open to Moscow.
On January 30, Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani while visiting Damascus "stressed the urgent need to form a government representing all spectrums" of Syrian society in order "to consolidate stability and move forward with reconstruction, development and prosperity projects".
Qatar has pledged to initially supply Syria with 200 megawatts of electricity and gradually increase the amount, the Gulf country's prime minister said during the visit to Damascus.
The Sharaa administration is new and unproven and the world is watching its first steps at governance. In less than two months, Syria's state institutions are functioning. The schools and universities are in session. The public hospitals are still functioning, and are almost free of charge, although medicines must be paid privately by patients. The police and fire departments are back to work, as are the garbage collectors and city municipal offices.
If the sanctions are lifted, then foreign countries and businesses can start sending money into Syria. Construction contractors can begin ordering cement, wood, and all the other materials needed to rebuild homes lost in the Civil War. Once the sanctions are lifted, Syrian refugees can begin coming home to look for jobs created by the new investments in infrastructure and tourism sectors. Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Europe will all benefit by lessening their financial and social strain from supporting about 12 million Syrian refugees. Brighter days may be ahead for Syria if the US and EU can lift the sanctions.
Steven Sahiounie is a two-time award-winning journalist
Copyright -? journalist Steven Sahiounie
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
