Since recapturing the largely agricultural province surrounding Damascus in 2018, Syrian President Bashar Assad has sought to portray the capital as a haven of calm in a country riven by conflict. In addition to the city’s symbolic importance, securing Damascus and the outlying region known as Rural Damascus is essential for the regime’s political rehabilitation and economic
Wednesday, 24 February, 2021 - 08:45
People stage a pro-Iran rally in Damascus last year. (Getty Images) Damascus countryside – Asharq Al-Awsat
Iran has established a large “cultural, sports and recreational complex” in the southeastern countryside of the Syrian capital, Damascus, in an attempt to consolidate its influence in the war-torn country.
The complex is located in the town of Hujeira that is adjacent to a region held by Russia, in a move interpreted by locals as an act of defiance to Moscow, which had previously thwarted Iran’s attempts to form a new “Dahieh” in Damascus.
Dahieh refers to the Iran-backed Hezbollah stronghold in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut.