Iran and Syria are not bordered, but how did Iran get its 100,000 troops?

Syria's coastline near the Mediterranean Sea is relatively short. During the whole Syrian civil war, the two main seaports of Latakia and Tartus and the main overseas bases of the Russian Mediterranean Sub-fleet were in the hands of the government. Latakia, a coastal province, is a traditional settlement of Alawites and belongs to the ruling Assad family. Old Assad, the father of current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was born here. The Sunni-dominated Syrian opposition forces are generally hostile to the Alawites with a small population, and even persecute them in the occupied areas, which makes local residents have a strong centripetal force towards the Bashar government. In fact, the opposition has never really attacked the coastal areas of Latakia to cut off the foreign aid channels of the Syrian government. In addition, the land passage from Latakia to Hama-Homs-Damascus, the core area of Syria, is kept open most of the time, so that the Syrian government can always get personnel and material assistance from overseas allies (Russian, Iranian, China, etc.). ).

(Although the Syrian opposition does not control a seaport, it has obtained assistance from Europe, America and Gulf countries through land borders with Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel. )

Latakia and Tartus are the most important seaports in Syria and the core interests of Russia in Syria. During the whole civil war, the opposition tried to attack Bashar's hometown Latakia more than once, or cut off the land passage between Latakia and the capital Damascus, but they were eventually defeated. Red is the current government-controlled area.

Lebanon is a neighbor of Syria and has a deep relationship with Syria in history. Syria (especially during the reign of the old Assad) once intervened in Lebanon's internal affairs, and even sent troops to join the Lebanese civil war. Lebanon has a complex fear of Syria, a neighboring country (dissatisfied with Syria's historical interference in internal affairs, and then took precautions, but afraid of offending its strong neighbor and getting into trouble, and hoping to get Syria's support and protection in the face of external threats such as Israel). Due to the serious ethnic and sectarian conflicts in Lebanon, Christians, Shiites, Sunnis and other different factions are either pro-Syria or anti-Syria. In order to prevent the spillover of the Syrian civil war, the Lebanese government tried its best to remain neutral, but maintained limited cooperation with the Syrian government. Therefore, the Syrian government can also obtain external assistance from Lebanon. In particular, Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran and is also a Shia and actually controls the political power in some parts of Lebanon, has sent a large number of troops to Syria in turn to participate in the war. In addition to being a pioneer in tackling key problems for many times, it also helped the government forces to restore the land transportation line from Damascus to Lebanon and Latakia at sea (see 20 13 Goussaire War), and in turn cut off the supply line of the opposition armed forces on the Syrian-Lebanese border (see the Battle of Caramon Mountains, Battle,

The diplomatic relations between Iraq and Syria, another land neighbor of Syria, are more complicated. After the war, both countries were ruled by the Arab Baath Socialist Party, but after Saddam came to power in Iraq in 1979, the Baath Socialist Party split between the two countries, and then the Iran-Iraq war broke out in 1980, and Saddam Hussein from Sunni origin attacked Iran ruled by Shiites on a large scale, leading to Syria, which was allied with Iran at this time (Alawites were originally a small Sect outside the two mainstream sects of Shiite Sunnis, and old Assad wanted to obtain foreign aid, Actively improve relations with Iran, and finally get the Iranian religious leader Khomeini to "admit" that Alawites are a branch of Shiites, and completely turn against Iraq. After that, Syria simply supported multinational forces to fight Saddam Hussein's regime in the Gulf War. However, after the United States launched the Iraq war to overthrow Saddam Hussein, the situation reversed. Shiites, who make up the majority of Iraq's population, were released by the Americans and a new Iraqi government was established. As a result, Syria and Iran, which were originally hostile, became brothers of the same Sect. As a result, after the outbreak of the Syrian war, the Iraqi Shiite government did not take a hostile attitude towards Syria, and the two countries strengthened cooperation after the rise of the extremist organization "Islamic State". Although the Iraqi government did not directly send troops to Syria or provide material assistance, it acquiesced in the participation of Iraqi Shiite militia groups in Syria, and many of these militia groups were supported and assisted by Iran.

Iran's own armed forces are not deployed in Syria, and even fewer are directly involved in the fighting (mostly as military advisers). The ground forces are mainly Shiite militia and mercenaries supported or recruited by Iran. In addition to Hizbullah, the Iraqi Shiite militia "Abbas Brigade" and "People's Mobilization Force", there are also Iranian Shiites from Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries (most of these countries are mainly Sunnis, whose status is low, and the situation is unstable, so they have moved to Iran in large numbers. Iran itself did not send large troops to fight in Syria.