Sayyida Zainab Shakes Off Iranian Influence with Great Joy

Sayyida Zainab shrine returns to local community (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Sayyida Zainab shrine returns to local community (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
20

Sayyida Zainab Shakes Off Iranian Influence with Great Joy

Sayyida Zainab shrine returns to local community (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Sayyida Zainab shrine returns to local community (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Sayyida Zainab district, once a key Iranian stronghold south of Damascus, has undergone a major shift after opposition forces took control of the Syrian capital and President Bashar al-Assad’s regime fell.

Within hours, the area shed its Iranian identity, a change welcomed with joy by residents who had long seen their district described as more Iranian than Syrian. In just two days, Iran, its allied militias, and Hezbollah lost their grip on the area.

“Our neighborhood is finally ours again,” locals told Asharq Al-Awsat during a visit on Tuesday.

In Bahman Market, the largest in Sayyida Zainab, shopkeepers are celebrating the changes in the area.

“The fall of Assad was achieved by our people, who restored Sayyida Zainab to its rightful residents,” said a shopkeeper, his joy unmistakable.

“Iran is gone, most of those they brought have left, and the rest are staying out of sight. Things are much better now,” he added.

Bahman Market in Sayyida Zainab looks completely different now. Hezbollah’s checkpoint is gone, armed fighters have disappeared, and sectarian banners have been removed.

Pictures of Iran’s leaders and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah—killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut’s southern suburbs last September—no longer hang in the market or on shopfronts.

“I was born and raised here,” said a 60-year-old local outside a candy shop. “Even before the Syrian uprising in 2011, Iran was trying to take over this area, using the Sayyida Zainab shrine as an excuse.”

“After the revolution began, Iran brought in thousands of fighters, formed militias, and settled them here,” the resident said.

“They took over properties from displaced opposition fighters, renamed streets and markets, and filled the area with Iranian symbols, flags, and militia banners,” they added.

“The district’s identity changed completely—it felt more Iranian than Syrian. We became a minority, while outsiders took control, dictating everything and pressuring us to sell our properties cheaply,” they noted.

“The old regime, now overthrown, did nothing to stop this because they depended on Iran’s support,” they added.

Opposition factions met with local elders on Sunday to discuss the Sayyida Zainab shrine, which will now be managed by the community, ending years of outside dominance.

“We’ll support and develop the shrine,” said a local elder.

“Visitors from all backgrounds are welcome. We are not against any sect but oppose those who take our land, alter our cities, and impose tyranny,” he affirmed.



Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
TT
20

Iraq Holds Kurdish Government Legally Responsible for Continued Oil Smuggling

Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo
Kurdish protesters block the road in front of trucks carrying oil in the Arbat area near Sulaymaniyah, Iraq February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Ako Rasheed/File Photo

Iraq's oil ministry said on Thursday it holds the Kurdish regional government (KRG) legally responsible for the continued smuggling of oil from the Kurdish region outside the country.

The ministry reserves the right to take all legal measures in the matter, it added.

Control over oil and gas has long been a source of tension between Baghdad and Erbil, Reuters reported.

Iraq is under pressure from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output to compensate for having produced more than its agreed volume. OPEC counts oil flows from Kurdistan as part of Iraq's quota.

In a ruling issued in 2022, Iraq's federal court deemed an oil and gas law regulating the oil industry in Iraqi Kurdistan unconstitutional and demanded that Kurdish authorities hand over their crude oil supplies.

The ministry said the KRG’s failure to comply with the law has hurt both oil exports and public revenue, forcing Baghdad to cut output from other fields to meet OPEC quotas.

The ministry added that it had urged the KRG to hand over crude produced from its fields, warning that failure to do so could result in significant financial losses and harm the country’s international reputation and oil commitments.

Negotiations to resume Kurdish oil exports via the Iraq-Türkiye oil pipeline, which once handled about 0.5% of global oil supply, have stalled over payment terms and contract details.