Researcher assistant Muhsen AlMustafa, specializing in civil-military relations at the Omran Center for Strategic Studies, commented on the promotion decisions by saying: “It seems that the main reference relied upon by the General Command in assuming responsibility for managing the country is revolutionary legitimacy, amid an almost complete suspension of the constitution and the absence of legislative authority.”

He told Enab Baladi that with the major transformations Syria is witnessing, and for necessities interpreted by the General Command based on national interest, the new leadership has begun to take strategic decisions aimed at restructuring and developing the army and security apparatus.

According to researcher AlMustafa, the decision does not grant foreigners any commanding military status within the army but is limited to promoting them to higher military ranks. This indicates that these officers already held previous ranks, either obtained through the military leadership of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, or as defected officers who worked within the “Deterring Aggression” operations room.