With the advance of armed factions… Iran’s surprising move in Syria

The move indicates a noticeable decline in Iranian support for the government of the Syrian president Bashar al-AssadFaced with a sudden and swift attack by armed factions led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, it has made significant progress in the past few days.

Officials told The New York Times that senior commanders of the Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force were among the Iranian soldiers evacuated to Iraq and Lebanon.

Tehran also evacuated some of Iran’s diplomatic staff, their families and Iranian civilians, according to the paper’s sources.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the Iranians had begun to leave Syria Friday morning, after the Iranian embassy in Damascus and Revolutionary Guard bases issued “evacuation orders.”

They explained that some of them went by plane to Tehran, while others traveled by land to Lebanon and Iraq, or by sea through the Syrian port of Latakia.

Explaining the move, Iranian political analyst Mehdi Rahmati told the New York Times: Iran “You cannot fight as an advisory and support force if the Syrian army itself does not want to fight.”

Rahmati added: “The bottom line is that Iran has realized that it cannot now manage the situation in Syria with any military operation and that this option is out of the question.”

On Friday, Iranian lawmaker Ahmed Naderi wrote in a social media post: “Syria is on the verge of collapse and we are quietly watching if Damascus falls, Iran will lose its influence Iraq And Lebanon.”

Naderi continued: “I don’t understand the reason for this inaction, but whatever it is, it is not good for our country.”

And besides that RussiaIran has been the Syrian government’s most powerful supporter during the years of the war, sending advisers and military commanders to bases and front lines, and supporting the army and factions fighting it.