Beirut– Ahad Badawi lived for more than a decade in bahrainA small Gulf country that – unlike its parent country Syria – rarely makes headlines.
It provided shelter to him, his sister and his elderly mother during Syria 14 years of civil war.
“Nothing ever happened there,” he said. “I mean, Bahrainis don’t even know what war is.”
But when America and Israel attacked Iran. provoking a regional warBahrain and neighboring Gulf countries found themselves in Iran’s crosshairs. So the family fled back to their home in Aleppo, once the site of some of the civil war’s fiercest battles but now offers a safe haven.
War-ravaged Syria has emerged as one of the few pockets of peace in the region’s latest conflict. Its leaders are working to rebuild ties with Arab and Western countries that had shunned Syria Former President Bashar AssadWho Phased out in December 2024 by the rebels, who then installed a new government.
Since the beginning and end of the US–Israeli war with Iran strait of hormuzDamascus has taken the opportunity to strengthen those relationships by remaining neutral.
Obaida Ghadban, a Syrian Foreign Ministry official, said, “Syria has presented itself as a solution to strategic crises in the region.”
After the US-Israeli attacks, Iran fired missiles not only at Israel but also at the Gulf countries hosting American bases. in Lebanon, dormant war Fighting has started again between Israel and Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah. And Iraq – which is home to both Iran-backed militias and US bases – found itself In the crosshairs of both sides.
Despite missiles flying overhead and sometimes falling on Syrian territory, Syria managed to stay afloat and positioned itself as an alternative transportation route for oil exports, which could no longer be shipped through the strait.
“Syria, once the arena for others’ conflicts, has today, through the will of its people and institutions, chosen to become a bridge to security and a fundamental pillar of solution,” Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa Said at a meeting of European leaders in Cyprus last week.
He described his country as “an alternative and safe artery connecting Central Asia and the Gulf to the heart of the European continent.”
Since Iran has blocked access to the strait, oil shipments have been trucked from Iraq into Syria and sent to European markets through Syria’s Baniyas port, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz. a key exceed The route between northern Iraq and Syria reopened last month after being closed for more than a decade, with officials touting it as an additional route for energy exports.
The overland route is less efficient and more expensive than shipping exports through the strait, but it provides a solution as long as Iran maintains its dominance over the channel.
Ghadban said that his country had no interest in cooperating with any side in the war.
“The parties participating in this are Syria’s strategic enemies, whether we talk about Iran and its allies, or if we talk about Israel and its aggressive expansionist policy in Syria,” he said. “Both parties have an interest in weakening Syria.”
iran was a key ally of Assad And during the civil war, Hezbollah and allied Iraqi militias came to its aid. This brought them into conflict with the groups that now rule in Damascus.
Israel, meanwhile, has been suspicious and sometimes openly hostile toward Syria’s new Islamist-led authorities. Following the fall of Assad, Israeli forces have taken control of and occupied the UN-patrolled buffer zone in southern Syria.
In the early weeks of the US–Israeli war against Iran, some speculated that Syria might join the fray to settle a score against Hezbollah.
But the Syrian army made no such move, and al-Sharaa and other officials insisted they had no interest in intervening in Lebanon.
Noah Bones, senior adviser on Syria to the International Crisis Group, said that while “Damascus was clear from the beginning that it wanted no part in this war and had signaled everyone accordingly,” its ability to actually stay out of the fray was in part due to fortuitous timing.
There were bases to house US troops in eastern Syria for years, but the US did reduced its presence Before the war with Iran started.
after The fight has started In January, amid clashes between central Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in northeastern Syria, the U.S. military transferred thousands of suspected Islamic State militants held in detention centers in Syria to Iraq. The army also reduced its presence in Syria, where the main mission was to prevent the resurgence of IS.
“Because the withdrawal was so far along by the time the war (with Iran) started, there were still very few American assets and personnel in the country” that could provoke Iranian fire, Bonsey said.
Bounse said Syria may have benefited politically from its neutral position in the regional war, but it would still suffer from the conflict economically.
Damascus had hoped to receive investment in Syria’s post-war reconstruction wealthy gulf arab countries It was once known for its shopping malls and skyscrapers.
But now those countries will have fewer resources and “less bandwidth for lower priority issues” as they focus on “strengthening their defense and revitalizing their economies” after the war, Bonci said.
While Syria could benefit in the long term from infrastructure projects such as proposed rail lines and gas pipelines that would link the Gulf to Turkey and European markets, those projects will take years, if they happen at all.
Meanwhile, Syria’s new government is facing growing public discontent over the country’s declining economy.
But at least for now, Badawi is happy to be back home, despite the hardships.
“There’s nothing like living in your own country,” he said. “When you are in your own country, you feel a different kind of security.”
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Associated Press journalist Ghaith al-Sayed in Damascus, Syria contributed to this report.
