Transcript of Iran Loses Regional Ally, U.S. Colleges Prepare For Trump, Drone Sightings

The fall of Syria's ruler is a blow against Iran.

Iranian money and troops propped up the old Syrian leaders. So how much does his government's collapse, set back an adversary of Israel and the United States.

I'm a Martinez. That's Steve Inskeep, and this is a first from NPR News. Some American colleges have a warning for their international students. They're suggesting students who leave for the holiday should try to return before inauguration day to avoid any trouble at the border. How real is that concern?

Also, who's flying drones over New Jersey? Could it be a Springsteen fan? Someone who's afraid of the drivers? And is it a coincidence that the radio broadcast of War of the Worlds was set there? We won't just drone on about the state where I used to live, but stay with us.

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The fall of Syria's longtime president prompted celebrations by many of its people. It's safe to say the same event led to dismay in the capital of Iran.

Yeah. That's because the longtime enemy of Israel in the US relied on Syria as 1 of its allies in a bid for power across the Middle East. Iranian troops and money propped up the ruler Bashar al Assad during years of civil war. Now if you look at a map, you can actually see why. Syria offered a connection to Iran's proxies in nearby Lebanon.

Now the government's collapse amounts to Iran's latest disaster.

NPR international affairs correspondent Jackie Northam covers Iran. Hey there, Jackie.

Good morning, Steve.

How did the Iranians use the old Syrian government?

Well, the most important way that it used it is Syria allowed Iran to set up a critical land bridge to Lebanon, so a corridor to Lebanon, so it could funnel weapons to Hezbollah for many years. You know, this was crucial, to get fighters, to weapons, going both ways, actually. But now that the anti government rebels control Syria, that strategic route to Lebanon is really most likely off limits to Iran, and that's a huge blow for, the regime's long term goals in the region.

What were or are the regime's long term goals exactly?

Well, there are 2 key ones. They wanna see the destruction or the collapse of Israel as a Jewish state. Iran also wants to counter any power influence that the US has in the Middle East, you know, at the same time, projecting the regime's own power in the region using its military and proxies, you know, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, and certainly the Houthis in Yemen.

Oh, which underlines how disastrous the last few months have been for Iran because Hezbollah has been decimated by Israel's military. This is just a moment when you would think Iran would wanted to be resupplying Hezbollah. I guess that's not gonna

happen. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. You know? And this is just really gonna make it much, much harder to get, you know, missiles and drones and the like to Hezbollah in Lebanon if this corridor is out of reach now.

But, you know, Steve, this isn't the only setback that Iran has faced recently. I spoke with, Afshan Ostavar, and he's a specialist on Iran and its proxies at the Naval Postgraduate School. And, you know, he said losing Syria as an ally really marks a profound turnaround for Iran. You know, if considered just a year ago, it was 1 of the most powerful states in the Middle East. Here he is.

It controlled politics on the ground in Iraq, in much of Syria, in much of Lebanon. It was losing ground in Gaza, but only just, and its allies in Yemen controlled much of Yemen. But in the last 2 months, 3 months, all of that has been reversed.

So, Steve, you know, not only has Israel degraded Hezbollah, as you mentioned, but Hamas in Gaza, it assassinated senior Iranian officials and pounded Iran's air defenses, and now it's lost a powerful ally in Syria.

Okay. So might Iran change its strategy of seeking domination through the region?

That's highly unlikely. And, you know, and Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned earlier this week not to underestimate the regime. 1 of the concerns is if Tehran feels cornered, it may try to use its nuclear program as leverage. But, you know, the other thing that's worth noting in the wake of the shakeup in Syria is that Iran's hard line regime may also be worried about a threat of upheaval from its own population. You know, the economy is terrible.

Any kind of descent is crushed. And, Tehran's watching what's happening in Syria. Wonder if the same thing could happen in Iran.

NPR's Jackie Northam, thanks for the insights.

Thanks very much, Steve.

Some American colleges are preparing for president-elect Trump's second term.

And here's 1 of the ways they're doing that. Several universities, including USC, Penn, and Cornell are giving advice to international students. If they're going home for the holidays, the university suggests returning before inauguration day, January 20, to avoid any trouble at the border.

Kirk Carapeza is covering this. He follows higher education from member station GBH in Boston. Kurt, good morning.

Hey. Good morning, Steve.

What exactly are colleges saying?

Well, most colleges aren't saying much, but there are some. The ones you mentioned, and a handful of schools here in New England, UMass Amherst, MIT, and Wesleyan have all reached out to international students urging them to return to the US before January 20th. Harvard also contacted its international students this week. The college suggested those traveling overseas for the holidays, quote, budget time ahead of Martin Luther King Day, which coincidentally is also inauguration day.

Okay. So I guess we can imagine why they would make this suggestion, but let's let's try to get the facts out. What is driving this?

Well, I think I think many administrators are revisiting Trump's track record. You know, in his first term, new foreign student enrollment dropped by 12 percentage points. You'll remember there was the travel ban targeting several majority Muslim countries, heightened visa scrutiny. And then in 2020, the mandate for all international students to attend classes in person even during the pandemic. Now this time around, Trump is promising even stricter policies.

At a rally in New Jersey this summer, he warned foreign students involved in campus protest.

If you come here from another country and try to bring Jihadism or anti Americanism or anti Semitism to our campuses, we will immediately deport you. You'll be out of that school.

Okay. So he said that, but there's an if at the beginning of that. Is it entirely clear what specifically the new president will do regarding international students?

No. There are no concrete proposals at this point from Trump or his transition team. But, you know, these colleges are trying to make sure their students don't get stuck out of the country when the new semester begins.

What do you hear when you reach out to administrate administrators as well as students?

They're really anxious. You know, behind closed doors, they tell me they're worried. Ted Mitchell is president of the American Council on Education, and he calls the potential decline of international students a tragedy because he says these students create a global atmosphere that's critical to American campuses.

It's kind of a brain sweep in which American institutions help bring the best and the brightest from other countries, to our shores. And I think that the rhetoric of the campaign suggested that, you know, immigrants were the opposite of that.

And, Steve, you know, some faculty members I talk to, they tell me their students are genuinely afraid. Here's professor Gerardo Blanco. Blanco runs Boston College's Center For International Higher Education, and he says there's a real disconnect on campus between students and administrators.

Having talked with colleagues, they feel like there is no evidence of a change in policy, and this is not a time to panic.

But Blanco says many students are already very concerned, and these colleges are taking precautions to protect them and ease their anxiety.

Yeah. Although, fair point. Policy hasn't changed yet. We don't really know what's gonna happen. Kurt, thanks so much.

Thank you, Steve.

Kirk Carapeza covers higher education for GBH in Boston.

What in the world is going on in the skies over New Jersey?

New Jersey's own Bruce Springsteen once described North Jersey sky with the line, the sun's just a red ball rising over them refinery towers, but now we need to add a few drones to the lyrics and to that picture because people have been reporting flying objects. Federal authorities say the drones are not a security threat, which still leaves the question of what they are.

For more on what we do know about the aircraft, we're joined by WNYC reporter Julie Hayward who has been covering this story. So is the federal government planning to investigate these alleged drone sightings?

Yes. So the FBI and other federal agencies have confirmed that there's an active ongoing investigation into what exactly is going on with these drones that people are seeing in the sky. It is happening. The latest information we have is that the federal government's actually sending specialized radar technology to local police departments in New Jersey to help with them sort of monitoring what's going on with these drones. So things are happening.

The issue is that some local lawmakers and people who live in the northeast don't necessarily think things are happening as quickly as they should be.

Okay. But at least they're they're on the case. Have they said anything about whether they're they're a threat at all?

So we've heard now repeatedly both from federal officials as well as some state officials. For example, the New Jersey governor has said this as well, that the drones seemingly pose no public safety risk and that folks should remain calm. However, you'll often hear a little bit of a divide between local lawmakers. There are some state senators, some reps, some mayors even, who have gone on the record and expressed a lot more concern over how safe people actually are.

Yeah. Especially if we don't know really anything anything about what we're seeing. So you reported that New Jersey residents have been spotting these objects for weeks now, but we've also seen some accounts from folks in Pennsylvania saying that they've seen them now too. I mean, what are locals saying about what they're actually seeing in this guys? I mean, what I mean, what is what does it look like?

Yeah. So right now, the count is Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, and Connecticut, as well as New Jersey. So they're starting to pop up in other places other than New Jersey at this point. Folks just seem to be posting what they're seeing online. This is getting a lot of traction on social media.

There are now Facebook groups. There are folks commenting, coming up with theories for what's going on with these drones. It's getting a lot of attention online.

Aliens? Any talk of aliens?

Definitely aliens. There are some people concerned that this is a national security threat

Wow.

Spies from foreign nations. You name it, someone has said it. I

mean, if okay. So if if it's been going on since last month, why are most Americans just hearing about this now?

That's a great question. So this has been going on for weeks. I'm talking, like, since mid November. People in New Jersey, originally, were the ones to say that they were spotting drones in the air, and nobody was really sure why. Part of why it's gaining so much traction now is that it's spreading outside of New Jersey.

We're now having sightings in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, elsewhere. And then on top of that, it's all the attention it's getting on social media as well. And then you also add to that, the fact that you now have lawmakers who are talking about it. There was a hearing in Congress about it earlier this month. So people are now paying more attention, which is then sparking more interest and is, you know, fanning the flames more, so to speak.

If the FBI just sends Mulder and Scully out to investigate, they'll get to the bottom of this. Julia Hayward is a reporter for WNYC. Julia, thanks a lot.

Thanks for having me.

And that's Up First for this Friday, December 13th. I'm Steve Inskeep. And I'm me, Martinez.

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