Syria's fall means a painful blow to Iran

"Syria is the 35th state of Iran – for us a strategical province. If we were attacked and the enemy forced us to choose between Syria and Chuzestan, the precedence would be to keep Syria. **If we keep Syria, we can take back Chuzestan, but if we lose Syria, we will not be able to hold Tehran**". Thus in 2013 spoke the Hujjat al-islam Mehdi Taeb, Iranian analyst and head of the pro-government analytical centre Ammar. Iran then built its influence in the region, and saving Assad from falling was the most crucial goal.