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Wednesday, 24 February, 2021 - 08:45 People stage a pro-Iran rally in Damascus last year. (Getty Images) Damascus countryside – Asharq Al-Awsat Iran has established a large “cultural, sports and recreational complex” in the southeastern countryside of the Syrian capital, Damascus, in an attempt to consolidate its influence in the war-torn country. The complex is located in the town of Hujeira that is adjacent to a region held by Russia, in a move interpreted by locals as an act of defiance to Moscow, which had previously thwarted Iran’s attempts to form a new “Dahieh” in Damascus. Dahieh refers to the Iran-backed Hezbollah stronghold in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut.