Bashar al-Assad’s re-election earlier this week is viewed by Iran as “a defeat for the United States and some Arab countries in the region,” according to an analysis published Friday by a Harvard-affiliated scholar.

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, an Iranian-American political scientist who serves on the board of the Harvard International Review, writes:

The Iranian government is attempting to project a picture that it totally and efficiently controls the destiny of, and the war in, Syria. The message from Tehran is clear; Iran is the key player even though the United States, the West, and other Arab countries are putting all their efforts to support the rebels. The message from Iran indicates that the balance of power will not be tipped as long as Tehran is backing the Syrian government.

Syria has been used as a platform by the Islamic Republic to project its power into the Arab world since its birth in 1979. In addition, Iranian authorities are using the current Assad victory as a credible vindication for Iran’s financial, advisory intelligence, economic, and military steadfast backing to the Assad’s government.

That backing has been extensive, as Rafizadeh observes: “Iran has spent billions of dollars in terms of financial credits, used Hezbollah to fight alongside the Syrian government forces, utilized Iraq as a territorial platform to deliver arms to Syrian forces, deployed Iraqi Shiite militias, and is currently deploying Afghan Shiites to the region.” He also notes that some 60 Iranian officers are reported to have been killed in Syria.

After his inauguration as President of Iran last year, Hassan Rouhani pledged his support to the embattled Assad regime. Subsequent pronouncements and evidence show that Iran’s support for the brutal Assad regime has not wavered since his taking office.

In Iran is Really Good at Evading Sanctions, which appeared in the September 2013 issue of The Tower Magazine, Emanuele Ottolenghi observed, “Mahan Air is under U.S. sanctions for ferrying Revolutionary Guards’ Qods Force operatives and weapons to war-torn Syria.” Jonathan Spyer, writing in Before Syria Disappears, Stop and Think in the June 2013 issue of the magazine, reminds us that “[a]s early as April 14, 2011, U.S. officials confirmed that Iran was aiding in the repression of what was then a mostly non-violent uprising.”

[Photo: Le Journal de la Syrie / YouTube ]