he Damascus administration and Iran's tribe card has been pulled as a result of the Euphrates Shield Operation clearing Syria's north and the west of the Euphrates river of terror groups.
Representatives from Damascus and Tehran have been in contact with tribal leaders in Syria's north for the past month. The aim is to sabotage Turkey's fight against terrorism with the Euphrates Shield Operation.
In the context of the Syrian civil war, possible alliances between Syria's Arab tribes and militant groups of the regime or supporting the regime could prove to be a security threat. As the war escalated, fragmented tribes are now subject to being pushed and pulled by regional and international powers.
A new governor has been appointed to the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK)-controlled Al Hasakah governorate. Despite being under PKK control, regime forces are completely operational in the region.
The governor, Ceyiz Mahmud al Musa is a 61-year-old Sunni Arab who was an air force pilot who completed his doctorate at a military Academy.
Among his duties is to reestablish ties between the Assad regime and Arab tribes in the region. Tribal networks form a communal identity among Arab Sunnis across Syria.
With Iran's support, Arab tribe leaders in the city of Deir ez Zor have also come up on the agenda to influence tribes and convince them to side with the Assad regime. Nevaf al Bashar, the Bakara tribe's leader, recently agreed to work alongside the regime.
Two other large Arab tribes the Assad regime is trying to convince are the Akhdiyat and Jahshiyat tribes.
It has been reported that Iran and Damascus representatives met with the Akhdiyat tribe in Turkey's border province of Hatay.
Tribes are being promised military aid, money, and positions in local government after the war in exchange for supporting the Assad regime.
These tribes extend to areas in Syria where the Euphrates Shield Operation is being conducted.
Damascus' aim is to sabotage operations that will target Manbij and Raqqa-Tel Abyad after Al Bab.
Turkey is determined to clear Raqqa of Daesh and Manbij of the PKK. While the U.S. is hesitant for the PKK to leave Manbij, they are supporting the notion of the PKK entering Raqqa.
Syrian sources have reported that if the Assad regime can convince tribes to support Assad, these tribal forces will be used in the Raqqa operation as representatives of Damascus.
Assad said on Monday that his government was ready to negotiate on "everything", including his own position within the framework of the Syrian constitution, at peace talks organized in Kazakhstan's capital of Astana by Russia and Turkey.
Assad blamed ceasefire violations on the insurgents, and said the army must "prevent terrorists from using the water to throttle the capital". He said it was the army's job to recapture the Wadi Barada area, which he said had been occupied by a group not covered by the ceasefire.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported clashes in Wadi Barada on Monday and said government forces shelled several towns there.
The U.S. wants to place Ahmad Jarba as an important player in Syria's future. There are claims the U.S. paid Jarba 100 million dollars.
Jarba is a member of the Shammar tribe, which is one of the largest and most influential Arab tribes.
Jarba established a military group named Force al Nuhba from his own tribe, and has left this group to the control of the PKK-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
In the past few months, Jarba's office in Gaziantep was raided and closed by security forces.
