A gaggle of unknown gunmen stormed the Iranian embassy in Damascus on Sunday after Islamist rebels took town and overthrew the regime of Bashar Assad, who the Russian International Ministry says fled the rustic and left “directions” for a switch of energy.
Iranian state tv reported at the embassy incident, pronouncing they didn’t imagine the gunmen have been affiliated with the wider rebel group that took town. Iran had withdrawn maximum of its officers and their households on Saturday, leaving just a handful of diplomats.
“It’s mentioned that the Iranian embassy used to be stormed along within reach shops via an armed staff other from the gang now controlling [most of] Syria,” Iranian state TV mentioned, relating to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which spearheaded fresh rebellion advances.
Arab and Iranian media have shared pictures from throughout the embassy’s premises, the place assailants rummaged thru furnishings and paperwork throughout the construction and broken some home windows.
ISLAMIST REBELS IN SYRIA CATCH ASSAD, PUTIN, IRAN REGIMES OFF GUARD GIVING US NEW MIDEAST HEADACHE
Insurrection opponents stand close to the Iranian embassy with a torn poster of Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and past due Iran’s Innovative Guards’ best commander Qassem Soleimani after Syrian rebels introduced that they have got ousted President Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria December 8, 2024. (REUTERS/Firas Makdesi)
Assad and his British-born spouse, Asma al-Assad, fled Damascus with their 3 kids this weekend, consistent with Syrian tv experiences. It used to be no longer recognized the place they have been headed.
A video observation from a bunch of fellows on Syrian state TV mentioned that Assad were overthrown and all prisoners had been set loose.
Syrian Top Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali mentioned early Sunday he did not know the whereabouts of Assad. He informed the Saudi tv community Al-Arabiyya that they misplaced verbal exchange Saturday evening.
Russia’s International Ministry mentioned in a Telegram publish Sunday that Assad left Syria following negotiations with rebellion teams, and that the long-time Syrian chief had left “directions” to “switch energy peacefully.” The Russian ministry mentioned the Kremlin used to be indirectly desirous about the ones discussions.
TOPSHOT – An image taken on the front of the Kweyris army airfield within the japanese a part of Aleppo province on December 3, 2024 presentations a portrait of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and a countrywide flag within the rubbish dumpster following the take over of the realm via rebellion teams. (Picture via RAMI AL SAYED/AFP by way of Getty Photographs)
Crowds of Syrians collected within the central squares of Damascus to rejoice the inside track of Assad’s departure. Some chanted anti-Assad slogans and honked horns. In different spaces, celebratory gunshots rang out.
Syria has been embroiled in a bloody, just about 14-year civil struggle as Islamist rebels appeared to overthrow the Assad dynasty. The plain cave in of greater than 50 years of Assad family rule over the Syrian Arabian Republic is a huge turning level in Heart East politics.
The overthrow of Assad in Syria gifts but some other disaster within the Heart East going through the incoming Trump management. (Getty Photographs)
Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the Islamist chief of HTS, who has a $10 million bounty on his head from the U.S., seeks to provide a toned-down model of the novel Islamism that has outlined his years of combating in Syria and in Iraq in opposition to American troops. Al-Golani used to be detained via the U.S. army within the first decade of this century.
Syrian mavens have informed Fox Information Virtual that HTS seeks to impose a totalitarian Islamist regime at the inhabitants. Phillip Smyth, knowledgeable on Iranian regime proxy teams and Syria, who’s with the Atlantic Council, informed Fox Information Virtual, “HTS is a bunch this is an outgrowth of Al-Qaeda and has connections to Turkey. Their endgame is to create a Taliban-esque society with a couple of tweaks.”
Syrian opposition opponents take away a central authority Syrian flag from an reputable construction in Salamiyah, east of Hama, Syria Syria, Saturday Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Picture/Ghaith Alsayed)
Al-Golani banned his opponents from opening hearth into the air in Damascus.
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“Public establishments will stay underneath the supervision of the top minister till they’re formally passed over,” he mentioned in a observation revealed on his staff’s social media shops.
Fox Information’ Benjamin Weinthal and Bradford Betz and Reuters contributed to this document
