Iran abandoned Assad regime as opposition seizes country

An internal memo viewed by the "NYT" reports the situation as if “Iran accepted the fall of Assad and has lost the will to resist."

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF DECEMBER 8, 2024 09:15 Updated: DECEMBER 8, 2024 09:17

Illustrative image of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (photo credit: Canva, REUTERS/MAHMOUD HASSANO, SANA/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

Iran has turned its back and abandoned its ally Syria as opposition forces topple the regime, an exclusive New York Times report on Saturday revealed.

According to an internal memo from a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps that the NYT viewed, the situation in Syria was described as “unbelievable and strange.” It is as if “Iran accepted the fall of Assad and has lost the will to resist,” the memo said.

In addition, Iran's media had switched from calling the Sunni rebels “infidel terrorists” to “armed groups” and reported that they had so far treated Shiite minorities well, the NYT reported.

Iran has admitted that the current setbacks to the Syrian regime are a challenge for its regional “axis of resistance,” which consists of Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, Iraqi militias, the Syrian regime, and other groups.

According to the exclusive, Iran has supported Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, for decades, helping him survive a civil war that threatened his dynastic rule.

People gather in the city center, celebrating the anti-regime armed groups, opposing the Bashar al-Assad regime taking control of the city center of Hama, Syria on December 5, 2024. (credit: Ammar Hatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Iran has also been using Syria as a route to supply weapons to Hezbollah in the country’s west.

However, Iran seems to be distancing itself from Assad, potentially abandoning everything it has built and fought to preserve in Syria for the past 40 years, which has been its primary foothold in the Arab world, the report stated.

Evacuating Iranian forces 

Iran began evacuating its Quds Force personnel and military officials from Syria into neighboring countries such as Iraq and Lebanon as early as Friday, NYT said.

“For Iran to enter this fight, it would require massive logistical and financial resources,” as well as help from allies and Syria itself, said Mehdi Hemati, a Syria analyst in Tehran who has advised the government. “None of these conditions exist right now," the NYT quoted.

“Syria and Lebanon are like our left and right wings,” Hemati said. “They are being clipped, and it’s hard to imagine one without the other.”

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The NYT quoted Afshon Ostovar, an associate professor of national security affairs and an expert on Iran’s military, who said Iran was in a bind, particularly with US President-elect Donald Trump returning to the presidency and expected to enforce a policy of “maximum pressure on Iran.”

“Losing ground in Syria will make Iran look increasingly weak to its enemies in Tel Aviv and Washington,” Ostovar said. “If Iran doubles down on Syria, it could be throwing men and materiel into a losing battle. But if Iran falls back, it will appear weak, be admitting defeat, and cede hard-fought territory to its enemies.”