• Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
Carnegie Global logoCarnegie lettermark logo
DemocracyIran
  • Donate
{
  "authors": [
    "Karim Sadjadpour"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "menaTransitions",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "MEP",
  "programs": [
    "Middle East"
  ],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "Middle East",
    "Iran",
    "Syria",
    "Levant"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform",
    "Security",
    "Foreign Policy"
  ]
}

Source: Getty

In The Media

A Meeting Point Remains Elusive

As long as Iran sees itself embroiled in a zero-sum game in Syria, a half-way meeting point, however desirable, will likely remain elusive.

Link Copied
By Karim Sadjadpour
Published on Sep 4, 2013
Program mobile hero image

Program

Middle East

The Middle East Program in Washington combines in-depth regional knowledge with incisive comparative analysis to provide deeply informed recommendations. With expertise in the Gulf, North Africa, Iran, and Israel/Palestine, we examine crosscutting themes of political, economic, and social change in both English and Arabic.

Learn More

Source: New York Times

Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu famously advised that during times of conflict, “build your opponent a golden bridge to retreat across."

As America contemplates military force against the Assad regime in Syria, is there a potential golden bridge or dignified accommodation to offer Iran, Bashar al-Assad’s indispensable supporter?

Iran considers Syria its key geopolitical ally — a partner in an “Axis of Resistance” — and its critical geographic link to the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah, Tehran’s prized regional asset.

While the arrival of more pragmatic Iranian politicians — namely President Hassan Rouhani and U.S.-educated foreign minister Javad Zarif — has understandably renewed hopes for diplomacy with Tehran, Iran’s alliance with Syria has long been maintained by the country’s Revolutionary Guards, not its diplomats.

Qassim Suleimani, the commander believed to manage Iranian operations in Syria, just yesterday declared that Tehran “will support Syria to the end.” Even more moderate figures, like former president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, have implored continued support for Syria as a bulwark against Israel.

In this context, successful diplomatic engagement with Iran is hampered by the fact that outside powers — be it the U.S., Russia, or the Arab world — cannot offer Tehran assurances that a post-Assad government in Syria will remain friendly to Iranian interests.

Tehran's complicity in helping Assad kill tens of thousands of rebels has significantly diminished this prospect.

Ironically, the collapse of the Assad regime would produce a common interest for Washington and Tehran in making sure that radical Sunni Islamists, who hate Shiite Iran even more than America, do not rule Damascus.

Until then, as long as Iran sees itself embroiled in a zero-sum game in Syria, a half-way meeting point, however desirable, will likely remain elusive.

This article was originally published in the New York Times.

About the Author

Karim Sadjadpour

Senior Fellow, Middle East Program

Karim Sadjadpour is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where he focuses on Iran and U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East.

    Recent Work

  • Q&A
    Iran Wanted to Survive the War. Now What?

      Suzanne Maloney, Aaron David Miller, Karim Sadjadpour

  • Q&A
    What’s Keeping the Iranian Regime in Power—for Now

      Aaron David Miller, Karim Sadjadpour, Robin Wright

Karim Sadjadpour
Senior Fellow, Middle East Program
Karim Sadjadpour
Political ReformSecurityForeign PolicyMiddle EastIranSyriaLevant

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

  • Research
    Book Review of Enduring Hostility: The Making of America’s Iran Policy

    A review of a detailed account of how antipathy toward Tehran has assumed a life and logic of its own in Washington, DC.

      • Jane Darby Menton

      Jane Darby Menton

  • Turkish President and Leader of the Justice and Development (AK) Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan attends the AK Party Ankara Branch gathering at ATO Congresium in Ankara, Turkiye on June 22, 2026
    Paper
    The Dual Imperative in Turkish Foreign Policy: Right-Wing Populists and Their Opposition

    Turkish right-wing populists have been trying to advance the country’s middle-power goals based on perceptions of what the public wants, but they have been doing so in ways that reinforce their project of autocratic political consolidation.

      • Murat Somer

      Murat Somer

  • De la Espriella moving through a crowd and smiling
    Commentary
    Emissary
    Trump Can Play Kingmaker in Latin America. He Can’t Build Lasting Influence.

    In Colombia and elsewhere in the region, the United States is trying to shape election outcomes—but at what cost?

      Oliver Stuenkel, Adrian Feinberg

  • Aerial view of Yemeni refugee tents displaced by war
    Article
    In Yemen, Climate Finance Must Respond to Entrenched Instability

    The world’s climate adaptation funds must adapt to address the ways that climate change is deepening state fragility.

      Ray Salvatore Jennings, Paul Andrew Mayewski

  • Commentary
    Carnegie Politika
    Iran War Fallout Gifts Putin Diplomatic Victory at ASEAN Summit

    Russia looks set to reap economic benefits from closer ties with Southeast Asian countries that are keen to find reliable energy suppliers and diversify trade ties.

      • Alexander Gabuev

      Alexander Gabuev

Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Carnegie global logo, stacked
1779 Massachusetts Avenue NWWashington, DC, 20036-2103Phone: 202 483 7600
  • Research
  • Emissary
  • About
  • Experts
  • Donate
  • Programs
  • Events
  • Blogs
  • Podcasts
  • Contact
  • Annual Reports
  • Careers
  • Privacy
  • For Media
  • Government Resources
Get more news and analysis from
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
© 2026 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All rights reserved.