Iran hawks frequently claim that Iran is “on the march” in the Near East, but when it comes to how Iran is viewed by the region’s publics and the publics in Muslim-majority countries nothing could be less true. Since 2006, favorable views of Iran in the surrounding region have dropped significantly:

The results from Turkey and Jordan show how far Iran’s stock has fallen in large part because of its support for the Syrian government. This supports the point I’ve been making for some time that Iran’s position in the region has been weakening over the last decade, and has become much weaker in just the last few years. The idea that Iran has been gaining ground couldn’t be more wrong. Not only are its allies and proxies under attack from their local enemies, but Iran’s image has taken a substantial hit in the process of trying to shore them up.