Tehran Pulls Most of Its Forces From Syria

Thousands of military staff and militia allies fled after Assad’s fall in major blow to Iran

- By Lara Seligman, Jared Malsin and Benoit Faucon

Iranian forces largely have withdrawn from Syria following the Assad regime's December collapse, according to U.S., European and Arab officials, in a significant blow to Tehran's strategy for projecting power in the Middle East.

The Iranian withdrawal marks the demise of a yearslong effort in which Tehran used Syria as a hub in its broader regional strategy of partnering with regimes and allied militias to spread influence and wage proxy war against the U.S. and Israel.

Members of Iran's elite Quds Force have fled to Iran and the militia groups have disbanded, said a senior U.S. official.

The Islamic Republic spent billions of dollars and sent thousands of military personnel and allied fighters to Syria after the Arab Spring uprising in 2011, to prop up the regime of Bashar alAssad. Syria was Iran's main state ally in the Middle East and a critical land bridge to Hezbollah-the most powerful militia in Tehran's self-labeled "axis of resistance" alliance.