I suggested some time back that Iran would continue seeking to fill voids created by the lack of a coherent US policy for post ISIS Syria and Iraq.
I also suggested that Iran was one of a few possible suspects that provoked the US response against Assad forced by shelling the US HQ.
That hypothesis remains viable given the materiel and now direct militia support that Iran is providing to the defenders of Afrin.
To our MIT aligned posters out there ...... those of you who have not been purged are complete moronic idiots. I have posted for ages on what Iran would likely do, not only in localities like Afrin but also in Iraqi Kurdistan. I had hoped at the beginning og the ISIS wars that Turkey would work with the Kurds to counter Iran's advances but no ...... in the end even Bazarni had to be betrayed by Erdogan .
Unfounded internal paranoia's must I guess be sold to ignorant voters to maintain support BUT AT WHAT COST? Well may you criticize my posts (and I do make mistakes) but as I see it Erdogan's ridiculous back flipping and betrayals are a key reason for reported US withdrawals from Iraq. Iran will now move to fill that void as well.
In Syria the apparent contradiction of the SDF (and the US) exchanging fire with Assad militias in the East while Khamenei arms the SDF/YPG in the West makes perfect sense if there is an agenda to both split the Kurds away from the US and woo the Kurds onto Iran's broader agenda at the same time. Where will this lead? Probably direct Iranian support for the PKK WITHIN Turkey at some point in the future.
Iran's decision to take on Israel at this point is similarly idiotic but I guess that comes from the Mad Mullah himself.
To get out of the mess Syrians need to be empowered in the first instance and that can only happen from a starting point of a Syrian Only discussion table. From there the influence of PKK hardliners within a broader Syrian matrix would be greatly reduced ...... we all know that ........... except for simple minded AKP supporters who believe the controlled propaganda they are being drip fed.
The map below allegedly points to Iranian Militia fighters entry into Afrin. If confirmed it means that the Turkish Air Force is directly targeting Iranian positions. I see that as a major escalation.
