The report “Iran, Russia rebuff world’s demand to remove Assad” (Nov. 24) left many of us shocked. These two countries are actually least affected by the presence of Assad at the helm in Syria. It is selfishness at its peak. The United States should exploit this situation to regain the confidence of its Arab allies by heeding their advice vis-à-vis Syria and Assad. Russia and Iran appear to have become a bit overconfident and arrogant. They should realize that the regional situation is very fluid and could change in anybody’s favor at any given time. The current situation may have placed the Arab countries in a tight spot but nothing is permanent. Assad can never be part of any solution because he is the root cause of all the problems of Syria.