In March 2023, China brokered a deal to restore diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran aiming to settle a longstanding bilateral dispute among the influential regional countries. Expert in the contemporary military history of the Middle East, Kamal Alam argued that the immediate beneficiary of the Chinese-led initiative is the “Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose diplomatic clout in the region has been further strengthened.”
Despite U.S. pressure on the region to continue the policy of isolation against Damascus, Reuters reported that Saudi Arabia plans to invite Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to an Arab League summit that Riyadh is hosting in May.
In this interview with Kamal Alam, we discuss the prospects of Assad’s re-emergence on the diplomatic scene and what does it mean for the region.
Kevork Almassian is an award-winning political commentator from Syria. He is the founder of Syriana Analysis and is known for his contribution to the literature on the Syrian war.