Will Turkey, Iran And The U.S. Clash Over Syria?

I recently recommended an analysis by Krishnadev Calamur for The Atlantic about "The Many Wars Within Syria's War." If it caught your eye, this piece by Ishaan Tharoor will too.

Here, The Washington Post's journalist explains the most recent tensions in Syria after the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, decided to send troops to Afrin to support Syrian Kurds fighting against Turkey.

"Syria's messy war is becoming even messier."

This decision puts in jeopardy the Astana peace talks orchestrated by Russia and Iran, who support Bashar al-Assad; and Turkey, who would prefer a new ruler in Syria.

The collaboration between the Kurds and the Syrian government also leaves the United States in a complicated position, as Washington has been working together with the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG in the fight against ISIS, but it is against the continuity of Bashar al-Assad.

If this weren't enough, reports from the ground claim that the Syrian fighters who arrived in Afrin "appeared to be from a network of Iran-backed units that have often bolstered the efforts of Assad’s military."

If that's the case, a confrontation between Turkey and Iran is to be expected.

"It is the sort of bewildering entanglement that characterizes the ruinous seven-year conflict, its constellation of warring parties and their tangled sets of interests."

The truth is that the Turkish operation in Afrin hasn't been welcomed by anybody and, although no ally wants "a violent rupture with Turkey," different interests on the ground are making things complicated (especially for Ankara) everywhere.