In a significant development, the United States announced a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Syria. US Ambassador to Turkey and Special Envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, confirmed the truce, stating Turkey, Jordan, and other neighboring countries supported it. This agreement comes amidst escalating violence in Syria's southern Suwayda province, which has been engulfed by nearly a week of clashes between Bedouin fighters and factions from the Druze community.
The ceasefire follows Israeli airstrikes in Damascus and against government forces in southern Syria earlier in the week. Israel stated its actions were aimed at protecting Syrian Druze, a minority group with followers also residing in Lebanon and Israel. Ambassador Barrack, in a post on X, urged all parties to lay down their weapons: "We call upon Druze, Bedouins, and Sunnis to put down their weapons and together with other minorities build a new and united Syrian identity."
Despite the announced ceasefire, reports indicate that skirmishes between Bedouin and Druze fighters in Suwayda are continuing, highlighting the fragility of the agreement. The Syrian presidency announced an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire on Saturday and deployed security forces to the region to restore order, urging all parties to adhere to it.
Turkey's Unease: Ethnic Fractures and Kurdish Autonomy
Amberin Zaman, writing for Al Monitor, stresses that for Turkey, the recent developments in Syria, particularly the deepening ethnic divisions and the Israeli intervention, are a cause for significant concern. Ankara fears that a permanent fracturing of Syria along ethnic and sectarian lines, which it believes Israel is encouraging, could redraw the regional map and embolden its Kurdish population. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reportedly assured Syrian Interim President of Turkey's full support in a phone call on Thursday.
Turkish officials, as cited by the pro-government daily Sabah, claimed Ankara played a key role in securing the same-day ceasefire in Suwayda. However, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that Washington had brokered the truce. Erdoğan also warned Russian President Vladimir Putin in a Friday call that the Suwayda clashes pose a threat to the entire region, emphasizing the importance of preserving Syria's sovereignty.
Turkey is actively pushing for the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria to integrate with civilian and military structures in Damascus. This stance stems from Turkey's fear that formal recognition of Syrian Kurdish autonomy would raise the bar for a peace deal with its Kurdish population. US special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack has vocally supported Sharaa's calls for a centrally run, unitary state, cautioning the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against delaying their integration and warning that the approximately 1,000 US troops deployed in the Kurdish-run region would not remain indefinitely.
Ankara views Israel's growing advocacy for Kurdish rights since the fall of the Assad regime as a destabilizing factor. Erdoğan, speaking after a cabinet meeting, warned, "Those who go down the well with Israel's rope will realize sooner or later that they have made a big miscalculation," a statement widely interpreted as being directed at the Kurds. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was more direct, cautioning Syrian Kurdish forces against
Opportunism and emphasizing the risks involved. This was likely in response to SDF commander Mazlum Kobane's post on X, where he indicated his forces had received appeals to establish a humanitarian corridor for civilians in Suwayda.
Iran's Alarm and Vindication Amidst Regional Shifts
Al Monitor also underlines that Iran views the recent escalation in southern Syria with a mix of alarm and vindication. Tehran frames the crisis as proof of its long-standing warnings about the post-Assad dynamics and is deeply concerned by what it perceives as Israeli plots to redraw the regional map. For the Islamic Republic, the conflict is more than a local flare-up; it is a pivotal front in the broader geopolitical contest between Iran and Israel, and a stark reminder of the perils following the departure of its ally, President Bashar al-Assad.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a post on X, called Israel a "rabid regime" and demanded international unity to halt its aggression, reaffirming Iran's support for Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity. In a phone call with his Egyptian counterpart, Araghchi accused Israel of fanning the flames in Syria and Lebanon while continuing its "genocide" in Gaza. Iran's UN ambassador, Amir Saeed Iravani, further denounced the Israeli airstrikes as a "dangerous escalation" that violated international law, enabled by US and Western backing.
Iran is consistently pushing a "partition" narrative, with both reformist and conservative outlets suggesting that Israel is using the Druze minority as a pretext for airstrikes and as part of a broader plan to destabilize the region. This narrative suggests that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is exploiting regional instability to enhance his political survival. Iranian media have also been critical of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, mocking his attempts at rapprochement with Israel and describing him as a "Western project" that has gone rogue. There have even been unconfirmed claims in Iranian media that Sharaa's government has offered strategic concessions to Israel, such as the Golan Heights, and has been expelling pro-Iran Palestinian factions.
Tehran's state-aligned news outlets draw parallels to other post-regime-change failures, arguing that "post-Assad Syria has turned into a playground for foreign intervention and domestic chaos." The unrest in southern Syria has provided Iran an opportunity to assert that only the Islamic Republic, through its "axis of resistance," could have prevented Syria's descent into partition and chaos. Iran suggests that Israel exploited its absence from the Syrian battlefield, becoming emboldened enough to launch the Suwayda attacks. While cautiously hoping to reassert its relevance, Iran remains unsettled by Israel's presence in southern Syria, viewing it as an existential threat that must be countered. Calls for resistance, unity, and vigilance have intensified, with Iran urging the Arab world to take action, emphasizing that this is not just Syria's war, but a front line in Iran's regional struggle for survival.
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