Iran and Syria. Muslims and Jews. What is now in store for us?

Some years ago, I wrote a piece about leaders of countries who live in a state of fear, either through being squeezed economically or the fear of being attacked from outside their borders. Simply put, I said these maligned leaders don’t retreat, they attack whomever they fear. In essence, it has a two-fold effect.

One is to show their own population they had better not revolt against their leaders, or else they will be persecuted or slaughtered, as has been the case in Iran and Syria. The second is by attacking its outside adversaries. Combined, these two measures have a deranged gargantuan appeal to Iran’s arrogant, lust-seeking Supreme Leader, its theocratic government, and their military and as it was to Iran’s former ruthless Syrian ally ex-president Bashar al-Assad, who has now taken up residence, at least for the time being, in Russia.

The past weekend the siege on the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Syria, aided by Abu Mohammed al-Golani’s forces, eventually showed what can happen if you cross the red line after Iran propped up Syria’s Assad for many years.

And what was Iran’s response to the siege? So far quite benign. “Syria’s fate is the sole responsibility of the Syrian people and should be pursued without foreign imposition or intervention, Iran’s foreign ministry said on Sunday.” Indeed?

But wait! This is the topsy-turvy world of the Middle East! That was the weekend.

Today, as reported in The Times of Israel, the terrorist organisation Hamas, yes Hamas, congratulated “Syrians on achieving ‘freedom and justice’ by toppling Assad,” even though on June 21, 2022, with the backing of the Iranian regime, “Hamas made a unanimous decision to restore relations with Syria” and that the Assad regime and the terrorists “held meetings at higher levels of leadership to achieve this.”

Not to be outdone, also today, Islamist rebels “made a statement from a mosque in Damascus, in footage aired by Channel 12 news” stating “This is the land of Islam, this is Damascus, the Muslim stronghold. From here to Jerusalem. We’re coming for Jerusalem. Patience, people of Gaza, patience…”

In this respect, history has no meaning for those who thirst for power and what could be in store after President-elect Trump takes power.

I will say, this past weekend’s events in Syria will surely mean a further escalation by their proxy terrorist groups and Iran who are waiting to show us their allegiance in a manner befitting their yearning for Martyrdom. All it will take is a resounding ‘yes’ from their leaders and the lust for power from Syria’s new governing forces, whoever they may eventually be.

What comes next? As I have frequently mentioned before, there’s a well-known Persian proverb: “Risk – If one has to jump a stream and knows how wide it is, he will not jump. If he doesn’t know how wide it is, he’ll jump and six times out of ten he’ll make it.”

Iranians are amongst the most astute and refined tacticians around. They are the greatest single-state sponsor of terrorism in the world, responsible for the murder of countless innocents. They remain firmly entrenched as part of the Axis of Evil a term that today includes the governments of Iraq and Iran and bedfellows in terrorism, Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis in Yemen.

What comes next in Syria? And how will Iran now react with its loss of face and to its burning genocidal ambition to wipe Israel off the map, who believes that destroying Israel and the US in a global apocalypse will bring the Shia messiah to earth?

This morning, thesyriacampaign.org, a human rights organisation “that supports Syria’s heroes in their struggle for freedom, justice, and democracy, in a commendable statement said: “Our hearts burst with hope today… the regime that has caused indescribable suffering and trauma for decades no longer has the power to commit war crimes.” In their statement, they added, “There is much that is unknown. We have lost so much.”

To which I will respond: Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend. For we may all need each other in friendship in the months ahead.

At least, that’s the way I see it.