(Foreign Affairs) Ehud Yaari - While Tehran hopes to achieve regional hegemony in the long term, its current plan is to focus on obtaining and maintaining a predominant position in Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria. For the last three years, General Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force within Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has been busy setting up two land corridors across the Levant (one in the north and one in the south), linking Iran to the Mediterranean. These pathways would provide a link to Hizbullah in Lebanon and finally end at the edge of the Golan Heights, serving as chains to move military supplies or militiamen when needed. Once the battles raging in Syria and Iraq subside, Iran will most likely continue to develop its proxy militias in both states, in the same manner that it props up Hizbullah in Lebanon. These militias are intended to help preserve the pro-Iranian governments across the Levant and maintain the corridors. The Trump administration should work with its regional counterparts to thwart Iran's attempt to build these two corridors. The U.S. should back Israel's effort to prevent the Iranians from securing a foothold on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights. The writer is a Middle East commentator for Israel's Channel Two television and a fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
2017-05-04 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive