All Policy Analysis by Omar Abu Layla

The Iranian model of creating and supporting proxy groups is consistent across the “Shia Crescent,” but recently Tehran has begun employing new and troubling tactics that threaten to only expand their influence.

On Sunday August 27, Deir Ezzor Military Council (DEMC) Head Abu Khawla—along with a number of senior commanders from the DEMC—were invited to meet with the commander-in-chief in the SDF Mazloum Abdi in neighboring Al-Hasakah province.

Justice for the victims of the al-Shaitat massacre is only just starting to emerge, and the international community must do its part.

Efforts to counter Iran in Syria are solely focused on Iran’s military presence in the country, and have ignored the soft-power, cultural spheres of influence being developed by Iran as a long-term strategy.

Russia is using its presence in Syria to defend its interests in Europe. This shift, and the global impact of the war in Ukraine, have important implications for on-the-ground dynamics in Syria.

The Syrian governorate of Deir Ezzor is currently a heavily militarized area, where militias and armed forces patrol and pursue their varied interests at the expense of local civilians.

Two years after the killing of Qassem Soleimani, the IRGC general’s name still holds a lot of power for many Syrians as one of the Iranian officials directly responsible for the ongoing Iranian efforts to change the culture in the country’s southeastern region of Deir Ezzor.

The recent targeting of the al-Tanf base in Syria, where U.S. forces are stationed, highlights the ways in which the Iranian presence in Syria is becoming increasingly bold in line with the foreign policy goals of Iran’s new president.

Statistics show that both the Damascus government and the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria are failing to effectively combat COVID-19 in Deir al-Zour.

After years of military cooperation in a conflict that has displaced millions of Syrians, the Assad regime and Russia arranged for a two-day conference that began on November 11 in Damascus, which they presented as a means to move forward on the issue of Syrian refugees and displaced persons. In