Iran is putting down roots in eastern Syria, outcompeting Assad’s regime in signing up fighters

Iran is putting down roots in eastern Syria, outcompeting Assad’s regime in signing up fighters

Washington Post .Jan 28th 2022 – 4:00 a.m. EST

BEIRUT — When the Syrian military opened offices in the eastern province of Deir al-Zour last month to enlist former rebels and repentant army defectors, almost no one showed up. So few in fact that, according to a local news site, Syrian security officers had to pull able-bodied passersby inside in hopes of registering them.

While Syria had promised forgiveness and a fresh start to many young men as part of broader reconciliation efforts, the initiative has faced a major obstacle: Iranian-linked militias active in the province have been offering a more attractive alternative, according to local experts and a former militia member.

Iran has been playing the long game in Deir al-Zour, successfully recruiting local Syrians to allied militias, providing services the deeply distrusted government cannot deliver and putting down roots in a strategic province that could further Tehran’s regional interests even after the Syrian civil war eventually ends and Iran’s support for President Bashar al-Assad is no longer as vital.

Iran has been building schools, opening schools and distributing food baskets, local experts said. It has tried to convert mosques in the Sunni Muslim province to Shiite Islam, the official religion of Iran, and while few Syrians have actually converted, the Shiite call to prayer is now heard for the first time.

When a young man named Abu Khadija joined an Iranian-backed militia three years ago, he wasn’t motivated by religion or ideology, he recalled. He wanted the pay and benefits. And like many of the young Syrians who join the militias, he saw them as “the only solution to escape the army,” said Abu Khadija, who spoke on the condition that his full name not be used, for fear of retaliation.

While the Syrian army in Deir al-Zour pays a monthly salary of 27,000 Syrian pounds, about $7.50, the Iranian-backed militias offer more than double that, with even higher pay in places like Bukamal city on the Iraqi border, he said. Abu Khadija, now 26, said he joined a brigade made up of 100 Syrians who largely guard Iranian warehouses in Deir al-Zour. They were assigned rotations of 15 days on duty and 15 days off. By contrast, the Syrian army often sends soldiers far from home for at least two months at a time, with home leaves of only five days, he said.