Aleppo in the custody of Iran .. Is the conflict with Russia settled on the city?

Omar Youssef-Aleppo

Questions arise about the causes and repercussions of the recent clashes in some areas of the city of Aleppo in the north of Syria between Russian and Iranian forces, in relation to the power struggle between Moscow and Tehran, in the second largest city of Syria, which the Syrian regime took control of all areas after the defeat of the Syrian armed opposition in End of 2016.

The Russian and Iranian military presence in the strategic city constituted a state of power struggle between the two parties, the size of which increased to the extent of the military clash.Al-Jazeera private military sources reported that Aleppo witnessed clashes with light weapons between Russian and Iranian forces, which resulted in deaths and injuries.

According to previous sources, clashes escalated in the past two days in the neighborhood of Hamdania, west of the city, and used mortar shells, causing injury to civilians.

These clashes raise questions about the military forces that control the largest cities in northern Syria, in the absence of the authority of the regime of Bashar al-Assad on behalf of Iranian militias.

Clash of influence
The Syrian opposition leader, Captain Abdul Salam Abdul Razzaq, says the recent clashes between Iranian militias and Russian forces are part of a long-running power struggle in Aleppo, one of Iran's most powerful militia strongholds.

Abdul Razzaq said in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that a meeting was held about two months ago to the leaders of Iranian forces and militias loyal to them with Russian military commanders in Aleppo, and the two parties agreed on what was described as "deportation of differences" to a later time after the end of the military campaign launched by the regime and its allies on the rural provinces Hama and Idlib in northern Syria, but somehow brought back the differences to the front.

The leader of the Syrian opposition that Russia after the clashes withdrew its last military group from Aleppo by air transport, to become the city in the custody of the Iranians.

Iranian unilateralism
Capt. Abdul Razzaq believes that Aleppo has become an Iranian military stronghold, where Iranian forces and militias are deployed on most fronts, where the headquarters of these forces is located in the military academy in Hamdania neighborhood, as well as Iranian military bases in each of Mount Azzan south of the city, in addition to the deployment of militias In the towns of Nebul and Al-Zahraa in Aleppo countryside, which are Shiite.

According to the opposition leader, Tehran is now unique in its control of Aleppo, and pursues a policy of "soft power" to support its influence in the predominantly Sunni city, in order to change its population structure according to its wishes, unlike Russia, which is looking for economic interests.

The spokesman for the Syrian National Army, Major Yusuf Hammoud, says that the Russian-Iranian fighting in Aleppo is due to tactical and strategic reasons, as both sides look at the developments in Syria. If the country is under international supervision, Russia aspires to be the supervisor and control of the areas of control. the system.

Military Arch
According to Hamoud, in his interview with Al-Jazeera Net, the Iranian militias form a military arch around Aleppo, where there are more than 3,000 Iranian elements in the defense labs east of the city, including about 250 officers, and 500 Iranian elements are deployed in the areas of Talaran and Tal Abour.

According to al-Faisal's spokesman, the military control of Aleppo and its environs is generally for the Iranians and their militias. Today, Russian influence is limited to state institutions and departments by appointing managers and their movements.

Hammoud believes that Russia may have released the hands of the Iranians in Aleppo in exchange for economic privileges obtained on the Syrian coast, as happened in the port of Tartous, where Moscow is seeking to gain the upper component and the popular incubator in the coast.