Bashar al-Assad

Russia on Tuesday said there were no plans for a major assault on Syria's Idlib, despite President Bashar al-Assad earlier saying it was a priority to retake the province.

Opposition authorities are issuing new ID cards in northern Syria with help from neighboring Turkey, expanding their administration over territory that remains outside President Bashar al-Assad's expanding area of control.

Turkey on July 19 condemned the Bashar al-Assad regime's attacks in the southwestern Syrian cities of Daraa and Quneitra.

Syrian government helicopters dropped barrel bombs on opposition areas of the southwest on June 22 for the first time in a year, a war monitor and rebel officials said, in defiance of U.S. demands that President Bashar al-Assad halt the assault.

Not so long ago, things were looking up for Iran. The 2015 nuclear deal its government agreed with the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany lifted tough sanctions, allowing for a sharp increase in Iran's oil production. It unlocked billions of dollars in long-frozen assets. European companies arrived in Iran in search of deals. The country's economy began to improve.

According to him, Russia last month deterred a larger-scale Western attack on Syria. The president believes that Damascus is close to winning the seven-year war, despite continued "US interference."

The presidential candidate of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Muharrem İnce, said he remained indifferent toward Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while adding that the Turkish government should not act in anger against him.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a rare meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on May 17 and said the "military success" in Syria allowed for a large-scale "political process" leading to the withdrawal of foreign forces and the reconstruction of the country. 

The danger of an escalation in Syria is rising - especially since the United States left the nuclear deal with Iran. However, the real danger in the region is not the war but the illusion that it can really be stopped warns Deutsche Welle.

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on May 11 urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to expel Iranian forces from his country, after Israeli air strikes hit alleged Iranian targets in Syria.