It took just 11 days to end the 13-year rebellion against Bashar al-Assad, an offensive so rapid that what unfolds next in Syria itself is, to an extent, anyone’s guess.

What is clear is that the dial of history is shifting again in the Middle East, not for the first time in the tumultuous 14 months since Hamas carried out its massacre in Israel on Oct 7 last year.

Over the coming days and weeks, the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East will be redrawn further as power in Syria shifts from Assad’s Alawite minority, a Shia offshoot, to the country’s Sunni Arab majority.

Both Shia Iran and Russia will lose their most important Arab client. Russia, whose ruthless aerial bombardment helped Assad to recapture rebel-held cities, looks set to lose its naval base at Tartus and air base at Hmeimim to the north, depriving Vladimir Putin of a foothold on the eastern Mediterranean.

But Mr Putin has other options in the region, most notably in Libya, where Russia supports Khalifa Haftar, the warlord who controls most of the country.