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Source: https://english.aawsat.com/dennis-ross/opinion/president-trumps-syria-conundrum
U.S. Should Work to Block Further Iranian Expansion in Syria
(Asharq al-Awsat-UK) Dennis Ross - Russia now has an air base in Syria. It is expanding its naval facility at Tartus. It has established an air defense umbrella in Syria. Today, every state in the area needs to reckon with Moscow. At this point, the Assad regime with the manpower of Hizbullah and Iran's other Shi'ite militia proxies are extending their control in Syria, fulfilling Iran's desire to create a land bridge from Iran through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon. The U.S. needs to ensure that Iran and the Shi'ite militias don't keep expanding their presence in Syria. It should convey to Russia that cooperation in Syria depends on the Assad regime and the Shi'ite militias not expanding from where they are now. The writer, a former special assistant to President Obama, is counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.