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Fall of Assad Reveals Major Divisions within Iran's Armed Forces

(Telegraph-UK) Roland Oliphant - Officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said commanders were blaming each other "in angry terms" for the collapse of Assad's regime and the loss of Iranian influence in the region. "The atmosphere is like something between almost punching each other, punching the walls, yelling at each other and kicking rubbish bins. They are blaming each other, and no one is taking responsibility," one official from Tehran told the Telegraph. "The focus for 10 years had been only on keeping [Assad] in power. And it was not because we were in love with him, it was because we wanted to maintain proximity to Israel and Hizbullah." A second IRGC official said that some are blaming Brig.-Gen. Esmail Qaani, the present commander of the Quds Force. "No one dares to tell him to his face, but...he is the one to hold accountable and fire. He has done nothing to prevent Iran's interests from crumbling. Allies fell one after another, and he was watching from Tehran." Asked about the military's view of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader whose Oct. 7 attack on Israel sparked the war, the first IRGC official said: "I can just tell you that he is no longer a celebrity here." "The resistance project almost no longer exists. You don't need to be an expert to see that we are in our weakest and most vulnerable position in decades and many acknowledge that here." Arash Azizi, an Iranian historian, said, "There is a big segment of the Iranian establishment which realizes the gig is up: revolutionary Islamism devoted to confronting America is not going to get them anywhere. That doesn't mean they want to be a liberal democracy, but they want to be more like Turkey or India, a big power in pursuit of their own interests." Some ordinary Iranian citizens are celebrating the fall of Assad. One Tehran resident said, "More than 90% of the people are happy and celebrating it. The mullahs should know that this is what will happen if they don't have the people's support. The repression of people leads to dictators' downfall."
2024-12-12 00:00:00
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