I'm often asked: will the new Syrian leadership be forced to pay back Iran's debts to the Assad regime?

In my opinion, the short answer is, broadly, no.

Here are a few quick reflections:

- There's no international mechanism for Iran to get its debts back

- Iran lacks diplomatic and economic leverage over the new government in Syria, which has historically been the only successful venue for debt repayment.

- Most of Iran's debts are difficult to calculate and most of them aren't duly approved by the authorities in Damascus and Tehran (the share approved by parliaments is negligible)

- Syria's new government will rightfully argue that the debts were odious and might instead argue for compensation.

Khamenie's investment in Syria's pitty dictator will go down in history as one of the most useless in modern history.