The Syrians say Iran is no longer able to provide substantial funding after US sanctions were reimposed by the Trump White House.
BEIRUT - In January 2017, Syria granted Iran the right to develop phosphate fields south-west of Palmyra. The agreement, trumpeted at the time by Iranian media, was part of a bundle of bilateral projects that included providing Iran with 5,000 hectares of agricultural territory in the Syrian heartland, along with preliminary approval to establish the country’s third telecom company.
Nearly two years later, however, none of these agreements has seen the light, much to the displeasure of the Iranians.
The telecoms deal has been frozen and Damascus offered to give the Iranians agricultural land in the countryside of the demolished city of Raqqa, which is technically impossible since that territory is in the hands of US-backed Kurdish militias. The Iranians wanted land that was far more strategic, between Daraya in the Damascus countryside and the Sayyda Zeinab Shrine. The Syrians said no.
Adding insult to injury, the prized phosphate deal was formalised in August but with Russia, not Iran. Moscow was given a licence to operate the fields until 2068.
There are fears in Tehran that the rest of the projects might go to the Russians as well.
Since the Russian military entered the Syrian battlefield in 2015, Tehran and Moscow have worked together, very diligently, on supporting their allies in Damascus and wiping out the armed opposition. Now that the guns are going silent, cracks are emerging with regards as to who gets what in Syria’s post-war reconstruction.
Russian Middle East analyst Dmitry Frolovskiy said, despite their emerging competition in Syria, there was a substantial technological gap between the two countries and, ultimately, Russia’s economic capabilities were much higher than Iran’s.
“Russian companies will clearly prevail,” he said, adding that Iranian ones “will fill some niches but of smaller scale.” He said he didn’t expect the competition to lead to confrontations, however, because both countries’ presidents wish to maintain “good relations in times of uncertainty.”