However, Russia seems determined to entrench itself further and keep supporting an unviable regime that has only been saved from the scrapheap with the help of the equally despicable Iranian Regime.

There can be no doubt of the relationship between Iran and Syria. The findings of the recent Special Tribunal for Lebanon in The Hague exposed the depth of this relationship, when the leaders of the two nations collaborated to assassinate Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri and his comrades in 2005 using the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia.

Syria shoots down a Russian plane
The whole issue of Russia’s problem in Syria began when a Russian plane – mistaken for an Israeli one – was shot down by Syrian missiles in Syrian airspace. Russia was forced to save face and not admit that its allies had shot down its plane, so they agreed to transfer several S-300 missiles to Syria for defence, with the hope being that the missiles will not hit a Russian plane this time. It is only a short-term solution for Russia and the likelihood is that Russia will have to explain this decision to the US.

The US role in Syria
After all, the US is a Russian ally in other areas and has made it clear that they want Iranian troops removed from Syria and will not withdraw until this happens. Russia may be working to improve its prestige, but the world wants a political solution to Syria, which many nations have made clear is not a possibility with the Iranian Regime involved.
The only way to solve the crisis in Syria is to remove Iran’s militias and advocate for regime change in Syria.

Khairallah Khairallah, the former foreign editor of Annahar and former managing editor of Al-Hayat, wrote on Al Arabiya: “The earlier Iran withdraws, the easier it is to search for a political solution. There’s no escape from the fact that several parties may participate in finding the aspired solution. The US, which seems that it insists to stay in East of the Euphrates and which insists to meet all what Israel demands from it especially regarding South Syria and the smuggling of Iranian weapons to Syria, is one of these major parties.”