Too narrow a viewpoint. The Alawites are a special sort of Shia, and, as I noted, in Syria they traditionally protect the Christians.
You disable the Alawites you allow the Sunni to murder all the Christians.
Iranian involvement is a totally different story.
Alawites have always been considered "cryoto-Christians" and may have been the survivng population of either Gnostic Christians or Neo-Platonist from the Roman empire's time because they hold Greek philosophers as prophets of their faith and only called themselves Muslims in public to avoid persecution.
It is well known that Alawites make pilgrimages to Christian holy places and seek blessings from Christian priests, etc which makes them hated by Sunni extremists.