Iran is taking advantage of its rapprochement with Russia following the war in Ukraine and the fact that it supplies Russia with drones and missiles for the purpose of the war in order to increase its military presence in the Damascus area.
Iran is actually continuing its expansion efforts in Syrian territory, Russia previously curbed Iranian influence in the area south of Damascus near the Al-Sayida Zaynab area, The Iranians are planning to build a large project in this area, similar to the Al-Dahiah neighborhood in the city of Beirut, which is the stronghold of the Hezbollah organization.
In recent weeks, the Iranians have begun to purchase real estate assets in the area south of Damascus and have even begun to establish military bases in the area close to Russia’s areas of influence, as reported by the “al-Sharq al-Awsat” newspaper on December 27.
This is an area that covers four square kilometers and has several villages and towns, in the north of it is the Palestinian refugee camp al-Yarmouk and in the south is the Alsayida Zaynab
Mosque.
The mosque houses the grave of Zaynab, the daughter of Ali and Fatima and the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad.
The al-Sayida Zaynab area is located 8 km from the capital Damascus on the road leading to Damascus International Airport and is considered the main stronghold of the Iranian militias and the Shiite militias loyal to Iran in Syria.
Because of the difficult economic situation, home owners of Sunni origin began to sell their houses to activists from the Shia militias in the area.
Since the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, Iran has begun to establish itself in the region, using the claim that it is protecting the al-Saida Zaynab site, holy to the Shiites, to deploy Iranian militias and armed Shiite militias in the region. According to Syrian sources, the region already has about 60,000 armed fighters of the Shiite militias under the command of Iranian military experts, their aim is to take control of the entire area south of Damascus.
Russia opposed this Iranian plan at the time and established its own Russian military police base in the area and even operated daily patrols to prevent Iranian expansion, but today Russia’s interests have changed due to its invasion of Ukraine, it needs military assistance from Iran in the field of drones and missiles and this also affects the extent of the rivalry between them and the Iranian control of parts of Syria, Russia has simply weakened and Iran is taking advantage of this to its advantage.
The Iranians see great importance in a military presence in the Damascus area, near the Syrian government centers and the airport through which they smuggle advanced weapons to Hezbollah, the renewed effort to deepen their presence in the Damascus area is part of the implementation of General Qassem Soleimani’s strategy and it indicates that they are determined to establish themselves militarily in Syria despite the Israeli policy, Israel’s resolute opposition to it and the precise bombings of the Israeli Air Force on the Iranian targets in Syria.
