US-Syria détente and the Houthi economic war machine
A US Chamber of Commerce delegation sits down in Damascus as a leaked Russian document reveals deepening Moscow-Tehran ties.
US-Syria détente and the Houthi economic war machine — A US Chamber of Commerce delegation, representing 50 American companies, sat down with Syrian officials in Damascus this week to discuss investment in energy, telecommunications, and financial services. The meeting came the same week four Russian vessels arrived at Tartus port to resupply Moscow's remaining military facilities on the Syrian coast. The timing captures the central dilemma for Syria's post-Assad leadership: balancing a resurgent Russian military presence against the promise of American investment, which only became possible after the US ended comprehensive sanctions in 2025 and removed Syria from the state sponsors of terrorism list in August 2026.[^1] Meanwhile, a 44-page Russian government document obtained by Fox News reveals an extensive plan to deepen relations between Russia and Iran, a partnership that complicates any Western economic engagement in the Levant.[^5] The Houthis, for their part, have built a sanctions-proof economic system generating at least $6 billion annually — several times the revenue of the recognized Yemeni government in Aden — through a network of tax collection, shell companies, and smuggling routes. This parallel economy allows the Houthis to sustain their military campaign against Israel and Red Sea shipping without relying on formal state funding. In Uruguay, the Broad Front — the coalition of President-elect Yamandú Orsi — has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government of carrying out "genocide" in Gaza, a term Orsi's own government has avoided. The accusation comes as Coordinación por Palestina en Uruguay organizes a march in central Montevideo set for 6:30 p.m. local time, nearly three years after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages. The Gaza war that followed continued until a ceasefire took effect in October 2025.[^2] The gap between the Broad Front's language and Orsi's more cautious stance highlights a growing tension within Uruguay's ruling coalition over how to characterize the conflict. IDF operations on multiple fronts as Yom Kippur approaches — Reserve s