Members of Syrian national parties and syndicates stage a sit in at Youssef al-Azmeh Square during a protest against a possible U.S. military strike against their country in Damascus, Syria, Monday, Sept. 9, 2013.

The director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, said he does not think the Syrian government of Bashar Assad is likely to collapse or be defeated in the near term because of increased support from Iran and Russia.

He said Assad’s forces will likely regain key territory in some key areas.

“He certainly is in a much stronger negotiating position that he was just six months ago,” Stewart said Tuesday speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Lt. Col Vincent Stewart predicted, however, that Iranian and Russian interests in Syria will likely diverge because they won’t share the stage there as a regional power. For now, however, Iran wants to maintain its relations with Moscow so it can purchase Russian arms without preconditions.

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