It is worth mentioning that this was not the first time that Iran led negotiations and made such suggestions. The Homs 2014 negotiations, entered into with the trapped people of Homs who were besieged there for two and half years, during which they suffered immensely from starvation, so much so they had to eat grass and drink from the rain, resulted in people leaving their houses as part of the deal, but not being able to return despite many neighborhoods being announced safe areas. Subsequently documents surfaced proving housing Iranians in Damascus as well as Iranians ownership of many big estates; in what is thought to be an attempt to change the demographics of a country that has never, in its history, witnessed sectarian dividing or deportation.