Afghan Voice Agency (AVA): This decision of the Arab League is considered a 180-degree turn in its previous position on Syria. A few months after the start of the Syrian crisis on November 12, 2011, some Arab countries such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia demanded the suspension of Syria's membership in the Arab League meetings. The excuse of these countries for suspending Syria's seat in the Arab League meetings was the accusation of the Syrian government's suppression of the people.
Some Arab countries also suspended and closed their political and even consular missions in Syria. Now, after about 12 years since the beginning of the crisis and the failure of the project to overthrow and collapse the legal government of Syria, the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad remains in power, the Arab League, in a meeting at the level of ministers, has made the final decision regarding the lifting of the suspension of the seat of Damascus and the return of Syria to this union.
The important point is that it was the Arab League that wanted Syria to return to this league. Some Syrian officials have stated that they did not ask for return, but the Arab countries themselves raised this demand. Now, if Damascus has not insisted or requested to return to the Arab League, the question is whether Syria is returning to the Arab League or the Arab League is returning to Syria? It is interesting to note that in the early years of the Syrian crisis, when a number of Arab countries severed their political relations with Damascus, Bashar al-Assad emphasized in a speech that the Arab countries will return to Syria soon. It seems that the day that Assad spoke about has arrived and now the Arab League is returning to Syria.
At the same time, the return of Syria to the Arab League is considered a step in line with the collective movement of the Arab countries to normalize relations with Damascus after the failure of the joint project of the Western-Arab coalition led by the United States to overthrow the Syrian government and Bashar al-Assad. With the beginning of the Syrian crisis in 2011, Saudi Arabia and some other Arab countries allied to the West became the main supporters of the terrorist groups opposing the Syrian government and cut off their relations with Syria by closing their embassies in Damascus.
However, after the clear defeat of terrorist groups in Syria, these countries came to the conclusion after a decade that continuing the old path and aligning with the West and reducing relations with Syria was not beneficial for them and they should start a new relationship with the Syrian government. Of course, this joint effort of the Arab countries to normalize relations with Damascus has faced strong opposition from America. The Biden government, like previous US governments, wants the collapse of the legitimate government of Syria, and therefore opposes any measures that imply its recognition or strengthening.
However, the United Arab States of America, which used to act in a united front in order to overthrow the legitimate government of Syria, with a clear change in their previous approach, have restored their diplomatic and economic relations with Bashar al-Assad's government. Countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which wanted to topple Bashar al-Assad in a united front alongside the United States, have now clearly realized that the policies and actions of the Western-Arab front along with Turkey have completely failed in this regard, and terrorist groups They were supported by America and these countries in order to overthrow the legal government of Syria and provided them with extensive logistical and financial support, and now only their remnants continue to live in the province of Idlib in Syria with the support of Turkey and the Westerners.
Tom O'Connor, a political analyst, says: "Many countries that had severed relations with Syria are now welcoming the return of Bashar al-Assad by understanding the new realities, and this is despite the continued opposition of the United States to his government." In this regard, the UAE, Bahrain, and Oman have reopened their embassies in Damascus, and Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt are continuing consultations with Syria to normalize relations, and significant progress has been made in this regard. The normalization of Syria's relations with Iraq and Lebanon is also underway, and Tunisia has also confirmed the establishment of political relations with Syria.