Islamabad: “The collapse of Assad’s government in Syria have emboldened Israel”, said Mr. James M. Dorsey, an award winning US journalist and the Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He was speaking to an event organized by the Institute of Regional Studies, Islamabad. 

Mr. James Dorsey was of the view that Iranian influence in the region had reduced as observed in Doha by the recent visit of Iranian Foreign Minister Dr. Abbas Araghchi. He added that the collapse of Assad in Syria provided a risky landscape to Iran in the region. With Assad’s demise, Iran lost a major ally as well as strategic depth in Syria, Mr Dorsey argued. He further analyzed the Western and regional states’ possible pressure on Iraq to disarm Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Unit in Iraq with its possible integration into Iraqi Armed Forces. Mr. Dorsey highlighted that in recent past, Assad’s foreign policy was aimed at engagement with the UAE and the Arab world while opting out of Iran-led Axis of Resistance operations against Israel. While responding to a question, Mr. Dorsey mentioned Iran’s approach of having amicable relations with Syria under HTS. However, for now, Iran would adopt a “wait and see” policy towards Syria, he told the audience. 

Earlier, Mr. Fraz Naqvi, Head of Iran Program at IRS, argued that while Iran-led Axis of Resistance had certainly faced setbacks yet Iranian proxy partners were able to showcase resilience in the wake of any Israeli offensive. He also mentioned that Iran might seek military modernization as a method of self reliance to compensate for the losses of its proxies.