© SANA via APSyrian President Bashar Assad, left, speaks with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, before their meeting in Tehran, Iran, February 25, 2019.
The Quds Force is the foreign terrorist unit of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), itself a U.S.-designated terrorist organization and a formal wing of the Iranian military. The Quds Force has been in relative disarray since then-President Donald Trump ordered a drone strike to take out its leader, Qasem Soleimani, in early 2020. Ghaffari is believed to have been Soleimani's "right-hand man" and played a key role in helping Assad commit mass atrocities against civilians to remain in power during the Syrian Civil War. Under Soleimani, no reports indicated tensions between longtime allies, Iran and Syria.
Revolutionary Guard’s commander-in-chief, Qassem Soleimani and Brigadier General Javad Ghafari in in Syria (undated photo)
The Times of Israel, translating reports in Saudi Arabia's al-Arabiya network and from broadcaster al-Hadath, reported that Assad had formally requested Tehran remove Ghaffari from the country in response to "a major breach of Syrian sovereignty at all levels." Among Ghaffari's alleged transgressions were the placement of troops in areas that Assad had explicitly forbidden Iranian terror soldiers and the development of a black market against Assad's wishes, the newspaper relayed.
Comment: It's probably more likely that Assad was adamantly against any form of black market. He is a leader who actually stands up for his people.
The newspaper quoted the al-Hadath report as stating that Assad felt Ghaffari's troop movements against America and Israel "almost led to the entry of Syria into an unwanted regional war, including the attack on American targets in Syria on October 20 by Iranian-backed militias." The attack in question reportedly caused no casualties.
"Ghafari admitted the presence of Iranian elements and weapons in the areas where the Syrian regime prohibited their deployment," the Saudi outlets reported. The commander also allegedly "transgressed Syrian customs and smuggled goods with the aim of creating a 'black market,' which constitutes a challenge and competition to the Syrian market" and engaged in "looting economic resources" away from an already beleaguered Syrian economy.
The Times of Israel, citing the Saudi outlets, also accused Ghaffari of tax evasion.
Israel Hayom, another Israeli outlet translating the Saudi reports, said that the Arabic-language al-Arabiya coverage of the rift noted a "negative trend" in Iranian-Syrian relations had culminated in Assad expelling the commander and that it was not an isolated incident or personality clash with Ghaffari alone.
Saudi Arabia has a vested interest in the collapse of relations between Iran and Syria, as Iran's most formidable rival on the world stage. As a serial and unapologetic, anti-American human rights abuser, Assad endured a decade as a global pariah. The administration of former President Barack Obama and his allies largely isolated Assad - after heralding him as a "reformer" - in an attempt to help mostly Sunni Muslim rebels overthrow his Shiite regime. Assad survived and won the Syrian Civil War after a decade with the help of Iran and Syria, crushing civilian rebel strongholds with chemical weapons.
Comment: More spin. The 'Assad used chemical weapons' canard has been debunked ad nauseum, despite the fraudulent OPCW report.
- Voice of sanity: Dennis Kucinich says no evidence that Assad has used chemical weapons on his own people
- Another ex-British military chief questions claims about Assad: 'Why would he use chemical weapons when he's already won the war?'
- Why all of the West's 'chemical attack' accusations against Assad are baseless
- Retrieved from the memory hole: Deleted Daily Mail online article - "US backed plan for chemical weapon attack in Syria to be blamed on Assad"
- Why all of the West's 'chemical attack' accusations against Assad are baseless
Assad's resilience prompted Sunni Saudi Arabia to seek normalized relations with his regime in June, according to Qatari outlet al-Jazeera.
"The political mood within the House of Saud has changed, many senior royals, particularly [Crown Prince] Mohammad bin Salman [MBS] himself, are keen to reengage with Assad," an unnamed former Syrian opposition leader told the network. "The prevailing attitude can be defined as, 'times have changed, the Arab Spring is history and the region is transitioning towards a new future, with new geopolitical characteristics.'"
Engaging with Saudi Arabia would potentially require cutting ties with Iran for Assad. The dictator has increasingly exhibited a desire to rehabilitate his public persona and expand his alliance, potentially at Iran's expense. While previously only counting on rogue regimes for support - Iran, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, and North Korea paramount among them - Assad's regime has touted growing communication with the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a key Saudi and American ally.
Assad welcomed Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the nation's top diplomat, for talks in Damascus on Tuesday, according to Reuters. The outlet, citing Assad's office, said the two "discussed 'exploring new horizons' for cooperation." Assad's Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), a regime propaganda outlet, boasted of the arrival of a new consul-general to its office in Dubai this week:
© SANA via APSyrian President Bashar Assad, right, speaks with Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Foreign Minister of the United Arab Emirates, in Damascus, Syria, Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021
The administration of President Joe Biden, who served as vice president when Obama failed to enforce his so-called chemical weapons "red line" against Assad, scolded the UAE government over the reports.
"We are concerned by reports of this meeting and the signal it sends," State Department spokesman Ned Price said this week. "As we've said before, this administration will not express any support for efforts to normalize or to rehabilitate Bashar al-Assad who is a brutal dictator."
Comment: Breitbart telegraphs its bias with the repeated use of 'dictator' to describe Assad. The citizens of Syria beg to disagree: