New protests, new revolution in Syria? Analysis by Mikhail Shereshevsky

The rate of the Syrian currency - the pound (lira) on the black market has reached 15,000 pounds per $1. This new record means a 50 per cent drop over a month.

The rate of the Syrian currency dropped after the government announced the partial elimination of fuel subsidies. All this became a trigger for price hike and people’s protests, outraged by growing poverty.

The province of Suwayda, which is mainly populated by Druze, has become the epicentre of the anti-government rallies and strikes, which have been going on for a week.

International news agencies are reporting that the rallies are held in the city, rally participants are demanding not only to improve their socio-economic situation and to cancel the decision to remove fuel subsidies, but also to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

The rally participants are outraged by the price hike and the arrests of their associates. In an interview with Al Jazeera, the rally participants said that "we are protesting against the economic recession, the chaos in the country, and the widespread corruption in all state institutions, beginning from the president’s office and ending with the governmental department".

The rally participants think that President al-Assad has concentrated state resources among his closest associates, which is a continuation of the approach of his father and predecessor as president, Hafez al-Assad. Moreover, they are dissatisfied that the regime is assisting the Iranians to control the country.

The Druze have their own armed militias that protect the area from Sunni Islamists who oppose President al-Assad. However, the Druze militias are not President al-Assad's puppets. These groups create a special situation when it is not so easy for the regime to hold mass repressions.

“The main reasons that prompted me to take to the streets along with the protesters are the demand for the release of all prisoners, as well as the sharp increase in the cost of living, the lack of medicines for children and the elderly, the lack of electricity and water. We are the children of this country and we do not want to leave it or be second-class citizens while Iranian militias are using the wealth of Syria,” rally participant Adam told journalists.

At the same time, hundreds of people also took to the streets in neighboring Daraa province to protest against deterioration of living conditions and rising prices.

Rally participants gathered in front of the ancient Umayyad Mosque on August 19 and raised the flag of the Syrian revolution, afterwards they began to chant slogans demanding for the release of political prisoners and the overthrow of the government.

Daraa is the cradle of the Syrian uprising against President al-Assad’s regime that began in 2011. There are also armed local militias not controlled by President al-Assad.

However, the problem is that President al-Assad’s regime ceased to exist as a centralised state long ago. A number of armed formations, which are more or less loyal to the regime, but pursue their own goals, operate under its guise.

The most powerful of them is the Fourth Division, commanded by Bashar al-Assad's brother, Maher al-Assad. These formations impose tribute on the population, take away their property, houses, enterprises, kidnap people, demanding a ransom, i.e. behave like a gang of racketeers.

This hampers the development of the Syrian economy, despite President al-Assad formally controls about 65 per cent of the country's territory.

Thus, not only the civil war and international sanctions, but the system of governance created by the regime are the cause of famine and the destruction of the Syrian economy.

In fact, armed criminal groups plunder these areas and share the booty with President al-Assad’s family.

President al-Assad’s regime also relies on the foreign troops. These armed forces include thousands of pro-Iranian Shiite militias, gathered and provided by the Iranians with money and sent to Syria.

Among them are units of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Iraqi Shiite formations, as well as the Fatemiyoun Brigade, which consists of Afghan Shiite Hazaras.

Moreover, pro-Iranian formations have been trying to operate in Syria for a long time, creating armed groups of their supporters there.

At the same time, the Fourth Division includes representatives of these units and, directly, the Iranians. Maher al-Assad is considered the main figure of Iranian influence in the country.

The loyalist militia - the Local Defence Forces (LDF) also consists of pro-Iranian groups. Although President al-Assad also relies on the support of the Russian Aerospace Forces, in fact, he turned into an Iranian puppet long ago.

The country has been occupied by pro-Iranian armed groups, and in these conditions, any socio-economic rally will inevitably clash with them and with the Iranians standing behind them, who actually control Syria.