Syria
A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on December 11, 2024 shows the Iranian supreme leader delivering a speech in Tehran. Photo: Khamenei's office/AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday accused a “neighboring country” of playing a role in the ousting of top ally Bashar al-Assad, saying the events in Syria came from a US-Israeli plot.
“A government in a neighboring country of Syria has played and is still playing a clear role in what’s happening. However, the primary conspirators and control room are in the United States and the Zionist regime,” Khamenei said on X. “We have evidence of this that leaves room for no doubt.”
Syria’s civil war dramatically reignited late last month when a coalition of rebels led by the HTS launched a blistering offensive against the Syrian army, seizing the northern cities of Aleppo, Hama, and Homs, and culminating their victory by capturing the capital Damascus as rebels said Assad fled the country, ending over five decades of Baathist rule.
“No one should doubt that what has taken place in Syria is the product of a joint US-Israeli plot,” Khamenei reiterated.
Syria shares borders with Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, with the latter having long supported rebel groups that fought Assad.
Iran was a longtime ally of Assad, supporting his efforts to take back territory from rebels for years with Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) military advisors and pro-Tehran militia groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi blamed the early setback of the Syrian army and a lack of flexibility from Assad towards the opposition for his downfall.
“A government in a neighboring country of Syria has played and is still playing a clear role in what’s happening. However, the primary conspirators and control room are in the United States and the Zionist regime,” Khamenei said on X. “We have evidence of this that leaves room for no doubt.”
Syria’s civil war dramatically reignited late last month when a coalition of rebels led by the HTS launched a blistering offensive against the Syrian army, seizing the northern cities of Aleppo, Hama, and Homs, and culminating their victory by capturing the capital Damascus as rebels said Assad fled the country, ending over five decades of Baathist rule.
“No one should doubt that what has taken place in Syria is the product of a joint US-Israeli plot,” Khamenei reiterated.
Syria shares borders with Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey, with the latter having long supported rebel groups that fought Assad.
Iran was a longtime ally of Assad, supporting his efforts to take back territory from rebels for years with Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) military advisors and pro-Tehran militia groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi blamed the early setback of the Syrian army and a lack of flexibility from Assad towards the opposition for his downfall.
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