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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — It wasn’t exactly a break-up moment between Iran and ally Bashar Assad. But Tehran’s whiplash diplomacy over the weekend suggested its embrace of the Syrian president could be cooling.

Just a day after Iran’s foreign minister pledged unwavering support for the embattled Assad, officials in Tehran outlined on Sunday a step-by-step peace plan for Syria capped by elections that presumably could usher in a new leader in Damascus.

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It was another possible sign of Assad’s fraying alliances after similar mixed messages last week from Russia, which tried to backpedal after a top diplomat said Assad is losing control of his country.

Yet it also highlights the limited options available to Iran to try to preserve perhaps its most critical alliance in the Middle East, where Tehran has far more rivals than friends. The Iranian initiative proposed Sunday – while almost certain to be rejected by Syrian rebel factions – marks some of the clearest signals that Tehran’s leadership is looking to hedge its bets and remain a player in Syrian affairs if Assad is toppled.