Al-Monitor |�Ali Hashem: The war for the Syrian Desert is in fact a war for the heart of the Middle East. The Iranian-led coalition in Syria is racing against the US-backed forces there, as both seek�to defeat the Islamic State (IS), the group that has shaped the face of the region for the last four years. It is a�war in the desert to draw a line in the sand, some might say, or a war to draw a line across�borders and connect�four�capitals: Tehran, Baghdad, Damascus and Beirut. Hence�the battle is between two different regional and international agendas, with each side viewing the other as the real threat after the defeat of IS in Iraq�s Mosul and Syria�s Raqqa.

Indeed, the regional confrontation and the intersection of interests suggest�that the Sykes-Picot borders are practically vanishing in accordance with the interests of regional�alliances. In other words, central governments are shifting their focus from national borders in consideration of the interests of the wider axis�to which they belong.

One manifestation of this was reflected in the celebratory mood of media supporting�the so-called�resistance axis�as its forces arrived at a Syrian-Iraqi border crossing June 9, with reported contact made between the Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs)�advancing from Iraq and allied forces from Syria, under the direct supervision of the�Iranian�Quds Force commander, Maj.�Gen. Qasem Soleimani.

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