Blackmoon
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Saudi Arabia confirms that it will deploy troops to Syria
According to Saudi owned news organisation al-Arabiya, Saudi Arabia has confirmed that it will be deploying ground troops to Syria to combat the spread of ISIS. This announcement comes after several weeks of rumours that Saudi Arabia would move against ISIS. Such a ground operation will likely anger the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad as well as the governments of Russia and Iran who will see the intervention as an attempt to slow the progress of the Syrian government against rebels, and also to limit the influence of Iran in the region. Iran and Saudi Arabia have been battling in aseries of proxy wars for several years – most recently in Yemen where Saudi Arabia accused Iran of supporting the Shiite Houthi militia but a leaked US cable claimed that the US believe the accusations against Iran to be untrue.
It is unclear at this time if only Saudi Arabia will deploy ground troops or if they will call upon their newly-formed anti terror coalition made up of over 30 countries, mostly from the Middle East and North Africa. Brigadier General Ahmed Al-Assiri from the Saudi military is quoted as saying “We are representing Saudi’s [decision] only” in regards to sending troops so at the moment it appears that Saudi Arabia is going it alone, however it is likely we will see other countries such as the UAE commit soon, as they are fighting side by side with Saudi Arabia in Yemen.
What this means for the fight against ISIS and the Syrian Civil War as a whole is unknown. Saudi Arabia has been been very clear that it will not accept Assad staying in power and has previously threatened to remove him ‘by force’ if he does not give up his power. With this in mind, the Assad regime could rightly or wrongly believe that Saudi Arabia will not simply leave Syria if/when ISIS is defeated. Subsequently, this increase in regional tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia could quickly spiral out of control into an international war within Syria.