DAMASCUS, Syria ¨C As city after city fell to a lightning rebel offensive in Syria last December, Iranian forces and diplomats supporting Syria¡¯s then-President Bashar Assad saw the writing on the wall, abandoning the longtime ruler days before his ousting, sources said.
During Syria¡¯s civil war, which erupted in 2011 following the government¡¯s brutal repression of pro-democracy protests, Iran was one of Damascus¡¯ biggest backers, sending Assad military advisers and forces from its Revolutionary Guard.
Iranian and allied regional fighters ¡ª mainly from Lebanon¡¯s Hezbollah, but also from Iraq and Afghanistan ¡ª had held key locations and helped prop up Assad, only to melt away in the face of Islamist-led forces¡¯ headlong rush toward the capital.
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