Rebels behind Aleppo’s surprise fall took advantage of Russian and Iranian distraction

“Iran proxies have been substantially degraded, and this has an unquestionable impact,” on the Assad regime’s ground forces, said Burcu Ozcelik, a Middle East expert with the Royal United Services Institute thinktank. But she also reflected that Iran itself, which has come off worse in its direct military exchanges with Israel, may also be more cautious to step in or allow its proxies to step in as well. “The real challenge to Syrian regime forces is the lack of willingness so far by Iran as the patron of Hezbollah and Russia to deploy military assets and air power to bail out the regime as it did before,” she added. An overt intervention from Iran in support of Assad may also provoke further bombing by Israel.