As Syria reconciles with the Arabs, is Iran sidelined?

A few days ago, Emirati Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed and Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad gathered a warm welcome.

A few days earlier, a tripartite meeting occurred between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Turkish Hulusi Akar, and Syrian Ali Mahmoud Abbas in Moscow.

All of these meetings confirm that the Syrian regime is in the process of ending its isolation around it.

But why all this rapprochement with Syria? Where is Iran in all of this?

According to some observers, the recent Emirati rapprochement with Syria is divided into several axes. 

In the first axis, Abu Dhabi's recent moves consolidate the mediating role it wishes to adopt between countries. In this context, bin Zayed's visit to Damascus comes as a step that will be completed by the visit of the Syrian and Turkish foreign ministers to the UAE, noting that before the Syrian-Emirati meeting, Mevlut Cavusoglu held a telephone conversation with his Emirati counterpart.

Does this Emirati movement apply to Saudi-Syrian relations?

This question arises in light of a written message that Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan received from his Emirati counterpart directly after he visited Syria regarding the solid bilateral relations between KSA and the UAE.

In the second axis, The Emirati efforts to get closer to Damascus come in parallel with working to distance it from Iran, according to what observers say, as evidenced by the fact that all reconciliations are taking place and Iran is the most prominent absentee. 

Iran did not participate in the tripartite meeting in Moscow, and its position on the Turkish-Syrian rapprochement still needs to be determined. In addition, signs of a possible rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran remain modest.

The most recent was the meeting that brought together the Iranian vice president and the Saudi foreign minister in Brazil on the sidelines of Lula da Silva's inauguration as president. On that day, the two stressed the importance of continuing talks between the two countries.

In conclusion, the Damascus-Ankara road is being repaved on the one hand. On the other hand, the Damascus-Arab reconciliation may be facing a new test. Moreover, can a comprehensive solution occur in the region without Tehran sitting at the table?

And finally, will the efforts of the American envoy Tim Lenderking and the UN envoy Hans Grundberg in Riyadh succeed in creating a breach in Yemen, the primary arena of tension between Riyadh and Tehran?