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Obama never did give that permission but the Trump administration swiftly did, leading to the co-operation that now exists between the two forces on the ground in Syria.

The second military meeting, called to discuss how operations would unfold in Syria, was even more consequential, but this time because of who was and who wasn’t invited. The top brass from Turkey, a regional power, was present, as was the top military brass from the U.S. and Russia, the two global superpowers. Iran, an ally of Syria and, it thought, an ally of Russia’s, was not invited. The Trump administration in a matter of weeks had sidelined Iran, weakening, if not altogether breaking, the Russian-Iranian alliance.

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That’s how Iran saw it as well. “Iran’s Role In The Arena Of The Syrian Developments Is Being Eliminated,” the Iran Diplomacy website wrote four days later, noting that the Americans and the Russians had been co-ordinating, and commenting bitterly that its Russian ally had abandoned it. “A Russian proverb says: ‘If you aren’t sitting at the table, you are (being eaten) at the table.’ Iran was not at the table in Antalya.”

That Russia would see its interests aligning more with the U.S. than with Iran is no surprise. Russia is a natural ally of the United States, notwithstanding the dark decades of the 20th century when it fell under a communist dictatorship. The Russian czars identified with the West and were allies of the West; the West admires Russian literature, Russian music and Russian art. Russia shares with the West a Judeo-Christian heritage and, along with other Western nations, has been protective of the Holy Lands. Iran, in contrast, is a natural enemy of Russia’s — the two countries fought numerous wars in the past and Iran’s Shiite’s have been historic enemies of Russia’s many Sunni Muslims as well as its Christians.