April 6, 2025: Iranian Brigadier General Behrouz Esbati is a fortunate man. After he returned from a massive late 2024 defeat in Syria, he gave a public speech about what happened. He explained in detail how Syrian leader Bashar Assad refused to let Iranians use Syrian territory for attacks on Israel. He also described Russian lack of cooperation and refusal to actually do anything against anyone. Esbati was dismayed and frustrated about how Assad’s control of the country vanished in a week as a former Islamic terrorist and a force of several thousand gunmen took control of the country. Syrian army troops simply walked away, changing into civilian clothes and leaving uniforms, weapons and military careers behind.

Syria had been the center for Iranian efforts to foment and sustain resistance to Israel. Iran supplied arms to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Palestinian rebels in the West Bank region adjacent to Israel. A paramount Iranian goal since the 1980s has been the destruction of Israel. Esbati was in Syria to supervise, coordinate and encourage efforts to attack Israel. He supervised the transportation of Iranian weapons into Syria. This was usually done via air transports flying directly from Iran, across Iraq and into airports in Damascus and a few other locations. Esbati saw to it that sufficient warehouses and drone manufacturing facilities were obtained and staffed with Syrian workers and guarded by Syrian soldiers overseen by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or IRGC personnel. Esbati was a career IRGC officer who remained in Syria to the end, leaving on the last flight out to Iran.

Esbati hinted at new plans to reactivate operations in Syria by quietly sending in new operatives with cash and connections to reestablish Iranian influence. He inferred that negotiations were underway with the new Syrian government. Meanwhile Iran planned to take advantage of the current chaos in Syria. The group that rapidly conquered Syria is now beset on all sides by various troublemakers, gangsters, reinvigorated rebels and spies from Russia, Turkey, Israel and Western nations. Esbati described the Syrian disaster as an opportunity.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei encouraged and supported renewed Iranian presence in Syria, and obtaining revenge against Israel for recent Iranian defeats. For example, in 2024 Iran had twice launched hundreds of missiles and drones against Israel and saw these attacks nullified by Israeli air defenses with the assistance of American warships offshore. Iran feels humiliated because they have not been able to inflict any damage on Israel for years. Meanwhile, recent Israeli airstrikes destroyed Iranian air defense systems and the factories that supplied components for missiles and rockets. Iran now has to find new sources for the solid fuel rockets that powered these weapons. These Israeli attacks have left Iran defenseless and unarmed. At the same time the Israelis have not attacked Iranian oil production and exports or gone after the unacknowledged nuclear weapons program.

Esbati admitted that the Americans as well as the Israelis possessed superior weapons and intelligence capabilities. Iran was seeking ways to overcome these shortcomings. Esbati’s efforts to reassure the Iranian public was met with anger and dismay. Most Iranians were angry over years of declining living standards and a growing list of defeats inflicted on their religious dictatorship government. Esbati was admired for his frank admission of what happened in Syria but the lack of any proposed practical solutions for Iranian foreign and domestic problems left most Iranians angrier and more resigned to their situation.