January 8th, 2025: Iran Retreats From Syria & Zelensky’s Approval Crisis
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What is the current situation in Syria?
It's Wednesday, 8 January. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. Today, we begin in Syria. As the country struggles to return to normalcy, Iran has largely withdrawn, signaling a major setback for the Iranian regime's regional ambitions. We'll have all the details ahead. Later in the show, trouble for Ukrainian President Zelensky. His approval ratings have plummeted to their lowest point since the Russian invasion began, as doubts continue to grow among Ukrainians. Plus, the latest from South Korea, where an ongoing standoff between rival government forces continues outside the presidential compound as the nation's impeached president remains inside, refusing to comply with detention and search warrants.
And in today's back of the brief, a new United Nations report reveals an alarming rise in executions in Iran last year, including about 40 in a single week in December. But first, today's PDB Spotlight. We'll begin with an update out of Syria, where some semblance of normalcy appears to be returning to the war-torn nation following the overthrow of Iranian-backed dictator Bashar al-Assad in early December. Officials from the rebel coalition now governing the country announced that international flights in and out of Syria's main airport in Damascus would resume this week and that Syria was now ready to begin welcoming visitors from all over the world. It's actually a significant development, as most international airlines suspended service to the country after the Syrian civil war kicked off back in March of 2011. Qatar Airways was the first major airliner to respond to the news, announcing that flights to Damascus had resumed on Tuesday for the first time in nearly 13 years.
Following the news, Jordan's flagship carrier also announced that flights to Syria would resume this week. While there are still concerns about the stability of the new government, of course, which is being led by the Islamist group known as HTS, the rebels appear eager to open their doors back up and normalize ties with their neighbors, particularly now that Iran's stranglehold over the country appears to have been broken.
What are the implications of Iran's withdrawal from Syria?
Speaking of Iran, according to an exclusive report from our friends at the Wall Street Journal, the mullahs have pulled out nearly all of their forces from Syria in the aftermath of the rebel victory over Assad, once their strongest ally in the Middle East. The news represents a significant blow to the Iranian regime's regional strategy for projecting power and dominating the Middle East. It marks the collapse of a years-long effort by Iran to use Syria as a central hub for their activities of their once powerful axis of resistance, which has been devastated by Israel over the past year. Leaders in Tehran had poured billions of dollars into this effort, sending thousands of military personnel and allied fighters to Syria after the bloody civil war broke out again in 2011.
Notably, Syria served as a strategic base of operations for the IRGC's, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps' elite Quds Force, which would coordinate the activities of proxy groups like Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis from inside Syria, providing Iran with some diplomatic cover. It also provided a land bridge for smuggling large amounts of weapons to Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon. Additionally, Iranian-backed armed groups inside Syria have launched attacks on U.S. forces in the region and aided in attacks on Israel over the past year. At the height of their activity in Syria, Iran was believed to have at least 10,000 IRGC members stationed in the country who controlled some 55 military bases. But an unnamed senior U.S.
official said Tuesday that virtually all members of the Quds Force have now fled back to Iran and the militia groups that they once armed have disbanded. When asked if the Iranians were completely out of Syria, the State Department's top Middle East official simply said, quote, pretty much, yes, it's extraordinary, end quote.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the current situation in Syria?
0:12–2:39
2
What are the implications of Iran's withdrawal from Syria?
2:39–14:47
3
How is President Zelensky's approval rating changing?
14:47–15:25
4
What does the latest poll reveal about Ukrainians' trust in Zelensky?
15:25–16:35
5
What challenges does Zelensky face moving forward?
16:35–16:52
6
What is happening in South Korea's political landscape?
16:52–21:36
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The President's Daily Brief
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