Aron Lund

Syria, Middle East politics, and Mediterranean security at @FOIresearch. Fellow at @UIsweden and occasional freelance writer.

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

A large majority of Americans want Congress to use legislation to force Trump to end the Iran War, including half of Republicans. @reuters: https://t.co/1JuBAkd3Sz

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

A few units would apparently be kept in free-standing division form, including the 82nd and 84th divisions and the Republican Guard. These are coup proofing units and/or foreign fighter repositories.

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

Damascus reportedly considers a major military reform, eliminating the division level and placing 6–8 brigades directly under each one of 5 territorial corps—effectively a sort of military region. Corps led by JN/HTS veterans.
• https://t.co/V5bQAUlVVY
• https://t.co/cefXgp0LtC

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

Damascus reportedly considers a major military reform, eliminating the division level and placing 6–8 brigades directly under each one of 5 territorial corps—effectively a sort of military region. Corps led by JN/HTS veterans.
• https://t.co/V5bQAUlVVY
• https://t.co/cefXgp0LtC

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

.@SangerNYT and @EricSchmittNYT sketch out four alternative plans currently under consideration by the Trump administration in Iran.

https://t.co/JRcNVEchQL

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani rejects the reports about Syrian forces being sent to Yemen and says any foreign deployment would be announced openly.

• SANA English summary: https://t.co/9hmZkoKx51

• Full remarks in Arabic: https://t.co/ln0wuI0TVM

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

.@APNews’s @AlsayedGhaith and @sammymagdy have more on the Syria-Saudi-Yemen story. https://t.co/B7dTtk9Tag

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

Trump’s election vow to stop aid to Israel in 2026 was false, according to @ynetnews’s @itamareichner. It will instead be gradually phased out while U.S. funding for joint projects increases, under a deal to be agreed before this Congress leaves office. https://t.co/LJV14FUHQX

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

Trump, interviewed by @Douthat60, on why his party lost the election: Iran, gas prices, Israel. https://t.co/6QMLCTFN4x

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

Khaled Khattab, regional security provider

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

.@APNews’s @AlsayedGhaith and @sammymagdy have more on the Syria-Saudi-Yemen story. https://t.co/B7dTtk9Tag

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

.@APNews’s @AlsayedGhaith and @sammymagdy have more on the Syria-Saudi-Yemen story. https://t.co/B7dTtk9Tag

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

Syrian denials notwithstanding, an @AFP source in the Yemeni presidential council says Syria may send 3 000 troops to assist against the Houthis. https://t.co/wpbptAFkmw

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

@ThomasPierret Yes, I suppose so.

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

Speculatively: I don’t think we should assume Saudi Arabia and its Yemeni clients want thousands of random Syrian troops. They could, however, have use for battle-tested drone teams, which use Syrian personnel but answer to SADAT/Turkey—as seen in Syria, Libya, and Azerbaijan.

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

Syrian denials notwithstanding, an @AFP source in the Yemeni presidential council says Syria may send 3 000 troops to assist against the Houthis. https://t.co/wpbptAFkmw

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

@ThomasPierret Yes, if 3,000 Syrians were to be involved, that would probably be a lot more than just drone operators. Even then, drones might represent the main offensive contribution. For scale, I believe the UN Panel of Experts on Libya put the number there at c. 4,000 Syrians at some point.

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

"USA:s presidentval 2028 kommer troligen stå mellan en propalestinsk demokrat och en Israelskeptisk republikan."

Jag skriver i UNT om hur det amerikanska mellanårsvalet påverkar Mellanöstern: https://t.co/mffW4HJLBw

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

@intensionality @FOIresearch Well, for signatory states it is legitimate. But I agree it won't hold in practice.

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

Ny @FOIresearch-rapport av Anna Savolainen, om Finlands återinförande av personminor i försvaret. https://t.co/8zCkgoEM8o

Min åsikt i frågan:

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

Truppminor är fruktansvärda vapen, såna borde vi ha.

Gästkrönika i @dagensnyheter: https://t.co/MEz8BihG9u

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

@emilmalek8752 @AFP 🤷

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

Syrian denials notwithstanding, an @AFP source in the Yemeni presidential council says Syria may send 3 000 troops to assist against the Houthis. https://t.co/wpbptAFkmw

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

A Syrian diplomatic source tells SANA the defense agreement with Saudi Arabia is about training, capacity building, advisory functions, and such, denying that troops were sent to Yemen. (Note: this does not seem to rule out Syrian forces in Saudi Arabia.) https://t.co/FbxabQJMfy

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

"Shaken by the accuracy of Iran's attacks on Bahrain and support for them among some Bahrainis, authorities in the Gulf island nation have launched a crackdown on Shi'ite Muslim clerics they accuse of fostering allegiance to Tehran at home"

@TimourAzhari: https://t.co/ytKHciq7nQ

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

A Syrian diplomatic source tells SANA the defense agreement with Saudi Arabia is about training, capacity building, advisory functions, and such, denying that troops were sent to Yemen. (Note: this does not seem to rule out Syrian forces in Saudi Arabia.) https://t.co/FbxabQJMfy

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

Comes right after the signing of a Syrian-Saudi defense MoU and, interestingly, the Turkish parliament’s ratification of the Mecca Alliance. All previous Syrian mercenary ops were organized by Turkey or Turkish security companies.

https://t.co/a7aQ4QaUfs

https://t.co/Ek4fCAZi8Q

[Aron Lund @aronlund]

As it pushes the United States to resume the war, Israel has informed U.S. and Gulf officials that it discovered Iranian preparations to use chemical weapons. U.S. officials seem unpersuaded and Gulf governments reportedly found the claims “unserious.” https://t.co/rtEIp3Y9R4