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The Syrian Upheaval Has Iranian Leaders Reeling

(New York Times) Farnaz Fassihi - In the days since the abrupt obliteration of Iran's dominant presence in Syria, the Iranian government has faced a fierce public backlash over the billions of dollars spent and the Iranian blood shed to back the Assad regime. The criticism, including from conservatives, is flowing freely on television channels and talk shows, and in social media posts. It also appears on the front pages of newspapers every day. Ebrahim Motaghi, a professor of international relations at Tehran University, said on a talk show that Iran had been reduced from regional power to merely another country. Cleric Mohammad Shariati Dehghan, a former Iranian representative to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, wrote in a front-page opinion piece in Ham Mihan that the defeat of Assad exposed Iran's strategy as misguided and "built on weak foundations." He demanded a new approach that redirected money and resources back to the people of Iran instead of propping up militant groups. The public debate is extraordinary, given that for years Iranian leaders portrayed their support for Syria and allied militant groups fighting Israel as a nonnegotiable principle of the Islamic revolution and critical for national security. Prominent Tehran-based analyst Hassan Shemshadi, who is close to the government, said, "People are asking: Why did we spend so much money there? What did we achieve? What is our justification now that it's all gone?"
2024-12-15 00:00:00
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