The Washington Post quotes Rafik Hariri Center Resident Senior Fellow Frederic C. Hof in an article about why Iran won’t give up on its efforts to support the Assad regime in Syria:
Ford and other experts on Syria say Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will never accept a settlement of the Syrian war that strands Hezbollah. To do so would be to surrender Iran’s regional ambitions, including its ability to threaten Israel. “Iran’s overall policy . . . is focused rigidly (in Syria) on Hezbollah,” former State Department adviser Frederic Hof, now with the Atlantic Council, wrote me.
So how to agree with Khamenei on Syria’s future? “What are we supposed to do?” asks Hof. “Help find an alternative to [Assad] who would work with Iran to keep rockets and missiles pointed at Tel Aviv?”