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Iran Looks to Profit in Syria
(Cipher Brief) Tony Badran and Saeed Ghasseminejad - In January, Iran signed five economic memorandums of understanding with Syria, which gave Iran important assets in the country. One of the agreements grants the Mobile Telecommunication Company of Iran (MCI), a company controlled by the IRGC and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a license to operate a mobile network in Syria. In addition, Iran was granted leases on 12,000 acres of land in Homs and Tartous provinces to construct oil and gas terminals, and a long-term lease to develop the Sharqiya phosphate mines in eastern Homs province. The Syrian regime will award another 12,000 acres of farmland to Iranian agricultural companies. Tony Badran is a senior fellow and Saeed Ghasseminejad is an associate fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.