Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani attend a news conference, after a meeting in the Black sea resort of Sochi on 14 February, 2019 [File: Reuters/Sergei Chirikov] The Syrian regime is suffering from the worst economic crisis since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011. The acute shortages of fuel, gas and electricity have frustrated even the staunchest loyalists who now publicly express their dissatisfaction against Bashar al-Assad’s leadership. Ironically, this comes as the regime and its backers are claiming “victory” against the rebels in an attempt to improve al-Assad’s standing in the regional and international arena and convince the international community to start funding the reconstruction of the war-ravaged country. A number of internal factors have contributed to the growing crisis, but recently, Washington’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran has had a significant impact as well by decreasing Iranian financial and energy flows to […]