In a special report, Reuters revealed a classified 33-page research paper by the Iranian government outlining Tehran's strategy to build an empire by restoring Syria’s economy and deepening its grip on the Assad regime.
The document, prepared in May 2022 by the political-economic division of Iran’s embassy in Syria, was discovered during the looting of the Iranian embassy in Damascus after the Syrian capital fell to rebel forces in December 2024.
The study draws parallels to the U.S. Marshall Plan that rebuilt Europe after World War II. “America’s strategy was successful,” the report states. “It made Europe dependent on it through economic, political, and socio-cultural means.”
According to the Reuters report published Thursday, May 1, Iran aimed to replicate this model in Syria, which was left in ruins after years of civil war.