Syria… Between the Flames of Allies and Opponents

In the game of power that shapes crises and wars, the former Syrian regime relied on Russia and Iran to prevent its collapse at the hands of the opposition that had swept the country, and it was eventually left with nothing but pockets under siege that were always bound to collapse.
Russia, with its effective air force, played a decisive role. Not only did it prevent the collapse of the regime, but it also helped it impose its authority on most of the country, from Daraa in the south to Damascus in the center and Aleppo in the far north.
As for Iran and its militias, they played an effective role on the ground. It allowed Qassem Soleimani to stroll over the ruins of Aleppo after it was destroyed, declaring that it was another city he had brought down in the Arab world.
Saving the regime from collapse came at a heavy cost. The Syrians only realized with time, when the Iranians reminded them of their accumulated debt, over thirty billion dollars. Additionally, the militias' infiltration of Syrian society made Iran seem like it was establishing a permanent occupation of the country. As for the Russians, who obtained a major military base in crucial Arab countries for the first time, they became direct partners in determining the country's fate domestically, internationally, and politically.
Iran and Russia’s presence was strong and growing. However, that was before the tsunami of the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation and Israel’s reaction to it.
Although the Syrian regime distanced itself from the attack, avoiding any direct military intervention on any of the seven war fronts, it paid a high price for merely hosting Iranians on its land. Syria became a land and air corridor for Iranian weapons being sent to Hezbollah, exposing the Syrian army and Syrian facilities to regular attacks by Israel, which had all but a free hand in the country.
Israel put Syria in the same corner as Iran and Hezbollah, preventing the Russian military from providing any serious support to the regime. Indeed, the Russians were keen on maintaining their strong relations with Israel and avoiding any clashes with it.
Since the expansion of the war on Gaza all the way to Iran, the Syrian losses have been accelerating catastrophically. Iran’s intervention in Syria became a burden on the people, the regime, and the state. Iran’s role lost its utility. It went from supposedly protecting the regime to embroiling Syria in a war that threatened its survival as a polity and undermined its sovereignty and vital interests, turning it into nothing more than a partner in defeat.
With Israel putting Syria and Lebanon on the same side as Iran, the Syrian state became the next target after the fighting on the Lebanese front. Since the war is about to end in Gaza- albeit through a gradual ceasefire- and with the war on the Hezbollah front having ended, Syria was naturally next on the list of scores to settle. Netanyahu addressed this in his first statement after the war in Lebanon, directly and explicitly warning Bashar al-Assad against playing with fire.
However, the unexpected surprise was that the war in Syria erupted from the north. Greater surprise then came with the swift fall of Aleppo, Hama, Daraa, and Suwayda, and the arrival of transnational militias to the capital Damascus, toppling the regime. These developments were the result of Syria being caught between the fires of the Turkish adversary, who endorsed the militias' attack and became their official spokesman for their "conquests," the constant Israeli threats, and the collapse of its allies' capacity to provide support.
The regime's many mistakes are difficult to count. Its management of the situation has been a failure since it asked for Russian and Iranian help, and it failed to address domestic issues or make use of the Arab world’s overtures.
For the foreseeable future, Syria will remain caught between the fires of allies and adversaries, unless there is room for an Arab solution that remains obscure.