The American-Arab site "al-Hura" quoted Nawar Shaaban, a Syrian researcher at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies, as saying that al-Assad's recent visits to the three countries revolved around messages between one country and another.
The investigator added that the transfer of Assad from Damascus to Tehran by an Iranian commercial plane, and its receipt several days ago without any standard protocol, carries a message that Tehran controls him and his decisions.
According to Shaaban, Assad has received instructions from Iran on how to deal with any new developments in the country, given Russia's ongoing involvement in the war in Ukraine.
The site also quoted former Syrian diplomat Bashar al-Haj Ali as saying that Iran and Russia were deliberately undermining al-Assad's sovereignty and status as Syrian president, and that each was trying to prove its control over its political decisions.
As for the political sphere, Alaa al-Safari, who lives in Damascus, believes the reason for the lack of any protocols in Assad's sudden visits to Russia, Iran and the UAE, and the delay in announcing the visit, is his fear of a targeted elimination.