Middle East policy at an impasse Iran continues to hope for good relations with Syria
An insurgent poses on December 8 with the head of a toppled statue of Hafiz al-Assad, the long-time ruler and father of the now fugitive dictator Bashar. Early on Sunday morning, an alliance of various rebel groups announced the capture of the Syrian capital Damascus. By then, Assad had apparently already fled the country.
Image: KEYSTONE
Opposition fighters celebrate the overthrow in Damascus on December 8. This day marked "a new chapter" for the Syrian nation, the Foreign Ministry announced in a statement after the president fled.
Image: KEYSTONE
Rebels pose in front of a military court in Damascus on December 8. They had previously set it on fire. However, the change of power in Syria and the capture of the capital apparently took place for the most part without any major fighting. The rebel alliance had previously announced that it would protect all "property of the Syrian people" and called on its fighters to stay away from government facilities.
Image: KEYSTONE
A man celebrates the overthrow in Damascus wrapped in a revolutionary flag. This shows three red stars on a green-white-black background in contrast to the - until now - official red-white-black national flag with two green stars, which is hated throughout the country as a symbol of the Assad clan's long-term rule.
Image: KEYSTONE
Many citizens of the capital took part in car parades to celebrate the end of decades of tyranny in Syria.
Image: KEYSTONE
Plumes of smoke over Damascus on December 08, 2024.
Image: Ghaith Alsayed/AP/dpa
An insurgent poses on December 8 with the head of a toppled statue of Hafiz al-Assad, the long-time ruler and father of the now fugitive dictator Bashar. Early on Sunday morning, an alliance of various rebel groups announced the capture of the Syrian capital Damascus. By then, Assad had apparently already fled the country.
Image: KEYSTONE
Opposition fighters celebrate the overthrow in Damascus on December 8. This day marked "a new chapter" for the Syrian nation, the Foreign Ministry announced in a statement after the president fled.
Image: KEYSTONE
Rebels pose in front of a military court in Damascus on December 8. They had previously set it on fire. However, the change of power in Syria and the capture of the capital apparently took place for the most part without any major fighting. The rebel alliance had previously announced that it would protect all "property of the Syrian people" and called on its fighters to stay away from government facilities.
Image: KEYSTONE
A man celebrates the overthrow in Damascus wrapped in a revolutionary flag. This shows three red stars on a green-white-black background in contrast to the - until now - official red-white-black national flag with two green stars, which is hated throughout the country as a symbol of the Assad clan's long-term rule.
Image: KEYSTONE
Many citizens of the capital took part in car parades to celebrate the end of decades of tyranny in Syria.
Image: KEYSTONE
Plumes of smoke over Damascus on December 08, 2024.
Image: Ghaith Alsayed/AP/dpa
Syria's ruler al-Assad played a strategic role in Iran's Middle East policy. His fall is therefore a very painful defeat for Iran.
08.12.2024, 15:58
dpa
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Iran wants to stay out of further developments in Syria after the change of power in Damascus.
- The regime hopes to maintain good relations with Syria.
- For Tehran, al-Assad was an important ally within the self-declared resistance front against arch-enemy Israel.
- With the change of power in Syria, Iran's Middle East policy - and in particular the fight against Israel - has reached an impasse.
Iran is hoping for continued good relations with Syria following the change of power in Damascus. "Bilateral relations with Syria have a long history and we hope that this will continue with wisdom and foresight," the Foreign Ministry wrote in a press release.
According to the statement, Iran will respect the Syrian people's decision on their political future. Above all, Tehran hopes for a quick end to military tensions and an early dialog between all political factions in the country, according to the Foreign Ministry, according to the Isna news agency.
According to unconfirmed reports, Tehran is already in contact with the Islamist alliance Haiat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in order to facilitate a peaceful withdrawal of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards from Syria. Whether the HTS will comply with this demand is questionable.
Rebels devastate Iranian embassy in Damascus
On Sunday, insurgents stormed the Iranian embassy in Damascus and, according to Iranian media reports, literally devastated it. However, all Iranian diplomats and their staff had already left the embassy before the attack, according to the Foreign Ministry in Tehran.
For Tehran, Al-Assad was a strategically important ally within a self-declared resistance front against arch-enemy Israel. Syria also served as a corridor for the supply of Iranian weapons to the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. This is why the country has also generously supported al-Assad financially and militarily in recent years - and labeled the Syrian HTS as terrorists.
With the change of power in Syria, Iran's Middle East policy - and in particular the fight against Israel - has reached an impasse. Critics accuse the Iranian leadership of having wasted billions of dollars with its political miscalculations in Syria.