Syrian President Bashar Assad hosted the Iranians and Iraqis in Damascus to show off not only Syria's return to the region as a stable country after eight years of civil war, but also to stress that Iraq and Iran were now stronger allies of Syria than in the past. "We have shown our unity in this war and fighting together against enemies," Assad said, according to Iran's Tasnim news.
In addition, the Iranians stressed that they want to pressure the US to leave Syria. Baqeri - acting as if he was in charge of Syria - stressed that uninvited "foreign forces" must leave the country. This is a reference to the US role in eastern Syria. He said that as long as the Syrian government asks Iran to continue to help it fight, the Iranians will stay. The goal is to "preserve national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria," and the three countries will continue to work to "defeat terrorists." This shows that now Iraq and Syria intend to work more closely along the border as well as in other areas.
Comment: The only country that 'acts' like it's 'in charge of Syria' is the US. As Iranian reps said, Syria asked for their help. The US, however, was never invited and it's actions are considered criminal by the legitimate government of Syria.
Threats are also aimed at the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main US partner in fighting ISIS. Ayyoub says Iran will return to eastern Syria either through military force or reconciliation agreements. This comes as the US indicates it may not withdraw from Syria and may maintain residual troop levels. The goal of Iran now will be to try to find a way to spread instability in eastern Syria, hoping to convince the US to leave. It also wants to pressure Iraq to call for US troops to leave Iraq.
Comment: A lot has changed in 5 years. Although what hasn't changed is that the source of instability in the region was always and continues to be the US, along with it's allies, like Israel and Saudi Arabia: