From Damascus to Chaos: Assad’s Fall and al-Qaeda’s Comeback

Join Kevork Almassian and Seyed Mohammad Marandi as they discuss the stunning fall of Assad’s government, the rise of a former al-Qaeda leader, and Israel’s territorial ambitions in the chaos.

There are some weeks when decades happen. In just a few days, the Syrian government has fallen, President Bashar al-Assad has fled to Moscow, and Al-Nusra founder Abu Mohammad al-Julani has taken power.

How could all of this have happened so quickly? Only last year, it appeared that Assad was entrenching his position internationally, being invited back into the Arab League. Assad also moved away from Russia and Yemen and towards a closer relationship with Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.

Two guests, Kevork Almassian and Mohammad Marandi, will join the MintCast this week to discuss Syria’s collapse and what it means for the regional Axis of Resistance. Almassian is a Syrian journalist from Aleppo who hosts the YouTube channel Syriana Analysis, a platform dedicated to all things Syria and West Asian politics. Marandi is a government advisor and ‏‏Professor of English Literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran.

Assad’s departure and the crumbling of the Syrian Arab Army have many inside the country jubilant. But others – particularly those coming from religious minorities – are fearful of reprisals. De facto president al-Julani was the head of the al-Qaeda affiliate, the al-Nusra Front until it rebranded itself as Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham in 2017. He was also deputy to the founder of ISIS, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Julani and his forces found widespread support in the West, which offered military, financial and political support. Israel, too, aided Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham’s rise, supplying the group with weapons and treating their wounded fighters.

Tel Aviv has used the opportunity to grab as much Syrian land as it can, moving past the occupied Golan Heights and towards Damascus itself. All the while, its jets strike at remaining military targets, crippling any potential future resistance.

What does all this mean for Palestine, Iran, and the region’s future? Could this be a turning point in Syrian history, or is it a crushing blow to forces resisting Western imperialism? Watch the full interview here to find out more.