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Washington Warns Syrian Regime against Attacking the Kurds

US Defense Secretary James Mattis (L) and Army Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command, brief the media at the Pentagon in Washington, US, April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
US Defense Secretary James Mattis (L) and Army Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command, brief the media at the Pentagon in Washington, US, April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
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Washington Warns Syrian Regime against Attacking the Kurds

US Defense Secretary James Mattis (L) and Army Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command, brief the media at the Pentagon in Washington, US, April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas
US Defense Secretary James Mattis (L) and Army Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of US Central Command, brief the media at the Pentagon in Washington, US, April 11, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

US Defense Secretary James Mattis warned the Syrian regime on Friday against launching any attacks against the “Syrian Democratic Forces”, which have liberated the city of Raqqa from ISIS terrorist group.
 
In a news conference at the Pentagon, Mattis said that there was currently a “demarcation line” between areas controlled by the US-led coalition and those controlled by Syria and its Russian allies in western Syria.
 
“We have said that we would operate on one side and the Russians on the other,” Mattis stated. “And we are still taking (ISIS) down. Nothing has changed.”
 
“It’s a mistake” to cross that line, he stressed.
 
The Kremlin announced on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a deal on the expansion of the Russian naval facility in the Syrian port city of Tartus.
 
Franz Klintsevich, vice-president of the upper house of Russian parliament’s defense and security committee, accused the US-led coalition of transferring ISIS leaders from Deir Ezzor by helicopters to the Hassakah countryside, stressing the presence of close cooperation between the coalition and the terrorists.
 
Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that buses carrying fighters of “Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham” and their families have headed from Beit Jinn area towards Idlib Province in the Syrian north and Daraa Province in the south.
 
SOHR explained that four buses headed towards Idlib carrying about 100 fighters of “Hayyaat Tahrir Al-Sham” and their families, while 6 buses have departed carrying fighters of the factions and their families, along with civilians who refused the agreement with the factions of Hayyaat Tahrir al-Sham and the regime forces, towards Daraa.
 
Hezbollah’s “war media” said that the buses carrying the militants of Beit Jann and their families left the assembly center in the southwestern Damascus countryside towards the city of Idlib, “as stipulated in the agreement reached between the Syrian army and the armed groups in the region.”

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Iran’s Allies Constrained in Confronting Israel

Armed Houthi supporters carry images of deceased military and political figures from Iran-aligned groups during a protest in Sanaa against Israeli airstrikes on Iran (EPA)
Armed Houthi supporters carry images of deceased military and political figures from Iran-aligned groups during a protest in Sanaa against Israeli airstrikes on Iran (EPA)
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Iran’s Allies Constrained in Confronting Israel

Armed Houthi supporters carry images of deceased military and political figures from Iran-aligned groups during a protest in Sanaa against Israeli airstrikes on Iran (EPA)
Armed Houthi supporters carry images of deceased military and political figures from Iran-aligned groups during a protest in Sanaa against Israeli airstrikes on Iran (EPA)

As war rages between Tehran and Tel Aviv, Iran may soon need to call upon its network of regional allies - groups it has armed and funded for years. But now, the so-called “Axis of Resistance” looks strained, fragmented, and far from ready.

On June 19, 2025, General Mohammad Reza Naqdi of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard urged Iran’s regional allies to take action to relieve mounting pressure on Tehran. At that point, Iran was entering its second week of heavy Israeli bombardment. Strategically, an Israeli strike on the Iranian capital once seemed unthinkable, but the regional terrain has since shifted. Iran’s supply routes are now disrupted, and its key proxy groups have either been neutralized or weakened.

According to The Times of Israel, Israel launched this war after nearly two years of systematically targeting Iran’s allies in Gaza, Lebanon, and Yemen. The 2023 Hamas attack on Israel had triggered a chain of retaliation that left many of Iran’s partners damaged or demoralized. With the Assad regime collapsed in Syria, Hezbollah weakened in Lebanon, and Hamas reduced to guerrilla tactics in Gaza, few proxies appear ready for a new confrontation.

In Gaza, Hamas has been forced into small ambushes and urban warfare, its rocket arsenal depleted and many senior leaders killed. Iranian communication channels with the group have also eroded. Israel’s targeted assassination of Mohammad Saeed Izadi, a key Quds Force commander linked to Palestinian factions, further strained coordination. For now, Hamas can offer little more than rhetorical support.

In Iraq, US forces have fortified their embassy in Baghdad, while withdrawing from bases such as Ain al-Asad. Iraqi factions loyal to Iran are posturing, threatening US interests should America enter the war. But most Iraqi leaders remain reluctant to drag the country into open conflict, knowing the consequences could be disastrous. Iran, too, is cautious about sacrificing Iraq’s political and economic value.

Hezbollah, reeling from the death of its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah in a 2024 Israeli strike, is in disarray. Its military capacity and leadership have been significantly degraded. Though the party retains some strategic capabilities, domestic and regional pressures have so far restrained it from opening a major front.

In Yemen, the Houthis have emerged as Iran’s last viable card. They now play a key role in smuggling weapons and expanding Iranian influence into Africa. Should the US directly join Israel’s war, Tehran may finally authorize the Houthis to use their stockpile of ballistic missiles, signaling a decisive and potentially catastrophic new phase of the conflict.