A showdown could be looming between the US, Iran, and the Assad regime at the Syria-Iraq border

In April, Syrian rebel fighters and their US special-forces trainers repulsed an ISIS attack in an hours-long battle marked by suicide bombers and coalition airstrikes.

The battle took place at al Tanf near the Syria-Iraq border, and the camp there is still used by US and UK personnel to train Western-backed fighters.

But with ISIS' territorial presence in Syria continuing to erode, al Tanf and the area around it — near the intersection of the Syrian, Iraqi, and Jordanian borders — looks to be the site of a potential clash between the US-led coalition, its local partners, and the Assad regime and its partners, backed by Iran.

With US-backed forces gearing up to liberate ISIS' self-proclaimed capital in Raqqa and ISIS losing ground elsewhere in Syria, combatants in the country are reportedly trying to position themselves to assume control of territory vacated by the terrorist group.

Though the battle for Raqqa in northeast Syria, and the balance of power it will create, is far from settled, control there looks set to devolve to Kurdish forces — who are allied with the US and have said they're willing to negotiate with Assad, and by extension Iran, for autonomy.

That could make it more possible for the al Tanf area in southeastern Syria to become a flashpoint in the geopolitical struggle between Iran and its partners, largely Shiite but also including Russia, and the US and its partners in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Arab states, largely Sunni.

According to Balanche, from al Tanf in southern Syria to Sinjar in Iraq — where Iraqi Shiite paramilitaries recently recaptured ISIS-held territory — "

Clashes between the US-led coalition and Syrian forces have already occurred in southeast Syria.

On May 18, coalition airstrikes hit pro-regime forces "that were advancing well inside an established de-confliction zone" northeast of al Tanf, US Central Command said in a release.

Washington's long-term strategy for the region, and how it would deal with a potential conflict between its partners and Iranian-backed forces, remains unclear.

While US officials have said the US focus continues to be on defeating ISIS, airstrikes on Syrian forces launched earlier this year President Donald Trump were a more direct challenge to Assad than that taken by Obama.

Trump's recent exhortations to Gulf Arab states to "stand united" against Iran, as well as his past bellicosity toward Tehran, suggest that his administration could pursue a more aggressive Middle East policy going forward.

However, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, possibly emboldened by Trump's rhetoric, have released public broadsides against Gulf Cooperation Council partner Qatar, opening a rift that could shake up the anti-Iran front the GCC has thus far presented.

A showdown could be looming between the US, Iran, and the Assad regime at the Syria-Iraq border

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!