Iran opened a direct line of communication with Syria’s new leadership after toppling ally Bashar al-Assad to “prevent a hostile trajectory,” a senior Iranian official said.

Assad’s regime collapse comes after the country had been fighting a blood civil war for more than 13 years.

The insurgency was orchestrated by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al-Qaeda affiliate, and marked one of the biggest shifts in the region in generations.

The removal of Assad may weaken Iran and Russia’s ability to influence the Arab world, though three Iranian officials told Reuters that Tehran is seeking to establish diplomatic relations with Syria’s new leaders.

The officials referred to the rebels as “those within Syria’s new ruling groups whose views are closer to Iran’s.”

Tehran has made contacts with two groups inside the new leadership and will determine the nature of the relationship after a meeting at Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, he said.

Two of the Iranian officials said Tehran is concerned about Trump using Assad’s removal to “either to force concessions or to destabilize the Islamic Republic.”

Trump purused a “maximum pressure” policy that led to severe economic hardship in Iran after pulling the United States out of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six major powers in 2018.

In 2020, then-President Trump ordered a drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s most powerful military commander who served as the mastermind of overseas attacks against the U.S. and its allies.

“Iran is now only left with two options: fall back and draw a defensive line in Iraq or seek a deal with Trump,” said Ali Vaez of the International Crisis Group.

Assad’s removal may weaken Iran’s power after pouring billions to prop up Assad during the civil war to maintain Tehran’s “Axis of Resistance” to Israel and U.S. influence in the region.