Tehran [Iran], December 12: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has blamed his archenemies the United States and Israel for the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria.
"There can be no doubt that what has happened in Syria is the result of a joint American-Zionist plan," Khamenei said in the capital Tehran, according to state radio. Khamenei said Iran had evidence to back up its accusations.
"A neighbouring government of Syria also plays a role," said the 85-year-old, apparently an allusion to Turkiye, which supports opposition forces in northern Syria. "But the main planners are the US and the Zionist regime," Khamenei said.
Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkiye all share borders with Syria. Of those neighbours, Turkiye has long supported certain Syrian opposition forces. Khamenei also said that Iranian intelligence had warned the Syrian government about threats to its stability over the past three months, adding that Damascus had "neglected the enemy". Iran and Russia had propped up al-Assad's rule after the eruption of war in 2011 with military and political support, as well as fighters and airpower.
The commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, said no Iranian forces remained in Syria. Al-Assad had long played a strategic role in the Iran-led "axis of resistance" against US and Israeli influence in the region. (Agencies)
Source: Qatar Tribune