The United Arab Emirates is about to reopen its embassy in Damascus amid a possible Gulf rapprochement with the Syrian president

Zero Hedge

By: Tyler Durden

The United Arab Emirates is set to reopen its embassy in Damascus, six years after its closure, according to regional media in the Middle East, leading to a new regional transformation.

There are reports that the GCC countries are seriously studying the reopening of diplomatic relations with President Assad’s government after it has closed its embassies in Syria since 2012.

This is of great importance because it comes after the governments of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have supported the war for seven years as an official policy aimed at changing the Syrian government.

Among these countries is Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

The restoration of relations means that countries such as the United Arab Emirates may be major sources of funding for reconstruction projects, at a time when the United States is trying to block all aid that could benefit the Syrian government.

According to media resources, Abu Dhabi has ordered “full maintenance of its embassy in Syria to be ready for opening within a maximum of two weeks”.

This rapid shift indicates that the UAE is ready to recognize that President Assad is the legitimate leader of Syria after he emerged victorious, at a time when the proxy international war is receding, and other Gulf states are likely to follow suit.

Senior Syrian analyst Joshua Landis noted this week that there was a huge process under way to re-align the regional powers to restore ties with Damascus, while Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt and Jordan are working to restore ties with the Syrian government, the fight against Sunnis is not right, because fighting now seems to be against extremists as common enemies.

The so called “Enmity” was no longer on the basis of “Sunnis” against “Shiites”, but rather on the basis of the moderate against the radical, or the governments against the rebels.

The fundamental basis for this is also linked to regional rivalries and the continuing ramifications of internal divisions in the GCC countries that have put Saudi Arabia and the UAE in the face of Qatar.

An expert named Hassani was one of the first to publish the article in Syria Comment, quoting high-ranking government sources in Syria.

Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are on the verge of forming a new regional alliance, with the goal of defeating the ideology and expansion of the Muslim Brotherhood-supported organization of Qatar and Turkey.

This important shift comes in the wake of intensive and comprehensive meetings held recently in Abu Dhabi aimed at stabilizing Syria and ensuring the return of the secular state that existed before 2011.

This new shift will undoubtedly challenge Damascus when it comes to its relations with its Iranian ally.

It would be an ideal opportunity to demonstrate its independence when it comes to foreign policy.

The UAE believes that a stronger and more stable Syria is the best way to reduce Iranian expansion in the region.

Where the influence of Iran was growing at a time when the Syrian state began to weaken since 2011 according to.

Meanwhile, Trump’s administration is exerting intensive efforts to pressure the Saudis to end the conflict in Yemen.

“It’s time to stop more than three years of conflict”, Mattis and Pompeo said recently.

And once the war on Yemen recedes and stops after this American pressure, this will positively affect the region and push forward the UAE / Saudi / Syrian rapprochement, so that the money that is wasted in this war can now is used to achieve stability in Syria.