Damascus, Syria – Iran dreamed of turning Syria into a strong economic and political ally, modeled on the United States’ plan to rebuild Europe after World War II, known as the Marshall Plan
Secret documents found at the Iranian embassy in Damascus reveal how those ambitious plans failed due to corruption, international sanctions, financial problems and, ultimately, the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
A 33-page official study, dated May 2022 and produced by an Iranian economic unit in Syria, outlined a blueprint for rebuilding war-torn Syria.
The plan included investments in infrastructure such as factories, power plants and bridges, with the aim of creating Syria’s economic, political and cultural dependence on Iran.
The document cited a $400 billion opportunity and compared the strategy to the Marshall Plan, which made Europe dependent on the United States.
But those plans fell apart when anti-Iran rebels toppled Assad in December.
The former president fled to Russia, and Iranian diplomats, paramilitaries and businesses fled Syria in a rush.
The Iranian embassy in Damascus was ransacked by Syrians celebrating Assad’s downfall, leaving behind papers that show the challenges faced by Iranian investors.
Reuters journalists found such documents at the embassy and elsewhere in the Syrian capital, including contracts, letters and infrastructure plans.
They interviewed Iranian and Syrian businessmen, investigated Iranian companies facing sanctions and visited abandoned investments such as religious sites, factories and military installations.
The projects included a “411m power plant in Latakia that has stalled, an abandoned oil drilling project in the Syrian desert, and a $26m railway bridge over the Euphrates River that was destroyed by a US airstrike and never repaired.
These projects have faced militant attacks, local corruption, Western sanctions and bombings.
The documents show that by the end of the war, Syria owed at least $178m to Iranian companies on the projects listed alone.
Former Iranian lawmakers estimate that the Assad government’s total debt to Iran was more than $30bn.
Hassan Shakhesi, an Iranian trader, lost “16m worth of vehicle parts that had been shipped to the port of Latakia shortly before Assad fled.
“I set up an office and a house in Syria, and now it’s all gone,” he said.
The goods have disappeared and he has not been paid.
“I hope that Iran’s long history with Syria will not be erased.
Now I need to look for business elsewhere.”
Why the plan failed
Iran began investing in Syria long before the civil war, with companies such as Mapna Group, which had been building power plants since 2008.
These investments grew as Western sanctions isolated the two countries.
The relationship between Iran and Syria began in 1979, after the Iranian Revolution, when Assad’s father, Hafez al-Assad, became the first Arab leader to recognize the new Islamic republic.
Throughout the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011, Iran supported Assad with weapons, troops and investment, helping him to stay in power.
However, the economic projects faced problems from the start.
The Latakia plant, for example, suffered from late payments, corruption and low-skilled workers.
A Syrian engineer who worked on the project said Syria insisted on using a company linked to the Assad family, which hired people with no experience.
Other Iranian companies, such as Copper World, have also faced difficulties.
In 2012, rebels stole a cargo worth millions of dollars, and the company suffered from corruption and fluctuations in the Syrian currency.
Despite this, Iran continued to invest, offering billions of dollars in credit lines to Syria between 2013 and 2015.
The man behind the plan
Abbas Akbari, a construction manager in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was tasked with leading economic plans in Syria from 2022. He was the head of the Headquarters for the Development of Economic Relations between Iran and Syria, which produced the Marshall Plan-inspired study.
Akbari tried to navigate the problems by suggesting partnerships with influential figures in Syria, but the results were limited.
The end of the Iranian dream
Assad’s fall marked the collapse of Iran’s plans.
In addition, Israeli strikes have weakened Iran’s allies, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
The Iranian embassy in Damascus was destroyed by an Israeli strike in April 2024, and Iranian staff fled after Assad’s fall.
For Syrians, the departure of Assad and the Iranian-backed militias was cause for celebration.
But some Syrians who worked for Iranian companies, such as the engineer at the Latakia plant, lament the loss of their jobs.
“Iran was a reality here, and I made a living from it,” he said, fearing reprisals for having worked with Iranians.
The new Syrian government, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former rebel from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, does not see paying off debts to Iran as a priority.
“The Syrian people have a wound caused by Iran, and we need time to heal it,” Sharaa said.
In the meantime, Syria faces the challenge of rebuilding the country with many infrastructure projects stalled.
Published in 05/01/2025 15h05
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption.
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