The U.S. and the United Arab Emirates have discussed with each other the possibility of lifting sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if he peels himself away from Iran and cuts off weapons routes to Lebanon's Hezbollah, five people familiar with the matter said.
The conversations intensified in recent months, the sources said, driven by the possible expiry on Dec. 20 of sweeping U.S. sanctions on Syria and by Israel's campaign against Tehran's regional network, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and Iranian assets in Syria.
The discussions took place before anti-Assad rebels swept into Aleppo last week in their biggest offensive in Syria for years.
According to the sources, the new rebel advance is a signal of precisely the sort of weakness in Assad's alliance with Iran that the Emirati and U.S. initiative aims to exploit. But if Assad embraces Iranian help for a counter-offensive, that could also complicate efforts to drive a wedge between them, the sources said.
Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araqchi visited Syria on Sunday in a show of support for Assad, and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan spoke to Assad by phone about latest developments at the weekend.
For this story, Reuters spoke to two U.S. sources, four Syrian and Lebanese interlocutors and two foreign diplomats who said the U.S. and UAE see a window to drive a wedge between Assad and Iran, which helped him recapture swathes of his country during the civil war that erupted in 2011.
...The UAE has taken a leading role in rehabilitating Assad among the mainly Sunni Muslim Arab states that shunned him after he accepted help from Shi'ite, non-Arab Iran to put down the Sunni-led rebellion against him.
The Emirates hosted Assad in 2022, his first visit to an Arab country since the start of the war, before the Arab League reinstated Syria's membership.
🔗SOURCE➡️ Reuters
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Syria, Iran, and Normalization of Ties Through the Middle East... (Read)
Former Director Of The Israeli Mossad Has Acknowledged That Israel Provided Support To Fighters In Syria Aligned With "Al-Qaeda."
— Excerpt From
2015 Flashback —Newsweek in 2015: "CIA-Backed Rebels FIght Alongside Al-Qaeda Wing in Syria"
Excerpt From: 8/9/23 — Business Insider: Russia and Iran Supporting Syria 'To Push US Forces Out In a Coercive and Systematic Effort' [X]
Never Forget: In 2012, Jake Sullivan (current US National Security Advisor) Admitted To Hillary Clinton, "AQ is on Our Side in Syria".
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