By Parisa Hafezi
DUBAI (Reuters) – Within the ultimate days resulting in his ouster, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad complained to Iran’s overseas minister that Turkey was actively supporting Sunni rebels of their offensive to topple him, two Iranian officers informed Reuters this week.
5 many years of rule by Assad’s household ended on Sunday when he fled to Moscow, the place the federal government granted him asylum. Iran had backed Assad in Syria’s lengthy civil struggle and his overthrow was extensively seen as a serious blow to the Iran-led “Axis of Resistance”, a political and army alliance that opposes Israeli and U.S. affect within the Center East.
As insurgent forces from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), previously aligned to al Qaeda, seized main cities and superior in direction of the capital, Assad met Iranian Overseas Minister Abbas Araqchi in Damascus on Dec. 2.
On the assembly, Assad voiced anger over what he stated was Turkey’s intensified efforts to unseat him, in keeping with a senior Iranian official. Araqchi assured Assad of Iran’s continued assist and promised to boost the difficulty with Ankara, the official stated.
The subsequent day, Araqchi met with Turkish Overseas Minister Hakan Fidan to specific Tehran’s deep considerations over Ankara’s assist for insurgent advances.
“The assembly was tense. Iran expressed its unhappiness with Turkey’s alignment with U.S. and Israeli agendas and conveyed Assad’s considerations,” a second Iranian official stated, referring to Ankara’s assist for rebels and cooperation with Western and Israeli pursuits in concentrating on Iran’s allies within the area.
Fidan, the official stated, blamed Assad for the disaster, asserting that his failure to have interaction in real peace talks and his years of oppressive rule had been the foundation causes of the battle.
A Turkish overseas ministry supply acquainted with Fidan’s talks stated that these weren’t the precise remarks by Fidan, and added that Araqchi didn’t carry and convey any messages from Assad to Turkey, with out elaborating.
Fidan informed reporters in Doha on Sunday that the Assad regime had “had treasured time” to deal with Syria’s present issues, however didn’t, as a substitute permitting “a sluggish decay and collapse of the regime”.
Iran’s Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated on Wednesday that Assad’s toppling was the results of a plan by america and Israel.
He stated that one in all Syria’s neighbours additionally had a job and continues to take action. He didn’t identify the nation, however seemed to be referring to Turkey.
NATO member Turkey, which controls swathes of land in northern Syria after a number of cross-border incursions in opposition to the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, was a essential backer of opposition teams aiming to topple Assad for the reason that outbreak of the civil struggle in 2011.
Assad’s downfall stripped Iran and its ally the Lebanese group Hezbollah of a significant ally. Tehran’s ties to Damascus had allowed Iran to unfold its affect via a land hall from its western border by way of Iraq all the best way to Lebanon to carry arms provides to Hezbollah.
Iran spent billions of {dollars} propping up Assad in the course of the struggle and deployed its Revolutionary Guards to Syria to maintain its ally in energy.
Hezbollah additionally performed a serious half, sending fighters to assist him, however needed to carry them again to Lebanon during the last yr to combat in a bruising struggle with Israel – a redeployment that weakened Syrian authorities strains.
