After hundreds of militants launched a swift and unexpected offensive to conquer Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, and surrounding towns and villages, Iran has put its support behind the country’s government.
Before departing for Syria’s capital, Damascus, on Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi was quoted by the state-run IRNA news agency as stating, “We firmly support the Syrian army and government.” He went on to say that the Syrian army will defeat these terrorist organizations just as it has in the past.
His remarks followed news that terrorists under the leadership of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham had taken over Aleppo International Airport, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor headquartered in London.
According to the observatory, members of the group released images from the airport, which would be the first foreign airport under insurgent control. After driving the governor, police, and security forces out of the city center, the rebels now hold most of Aleppo, it said.
Based on a network of information sources on the ground, the war monitoring group reports that at least 347 people have been killed in the confrontations, including 40 civilians. It further stated that three women and five children were among the civilians killed by bombings and bombardment.
After a 13-year civil conflict that started in 2011 as a protest movement against Assad’s authoritarian authority but has already claimed an estimated half-million lives, Syria’s humanitarian catastrophe is already among the worst in the world. The fighting makes it worse.
The offensive calls into doubt the military readiness of Syrian President Bashar Assad. According to the state news agency, Syria would continue to “defend its stability and territorial integrity against terrorists and their supporters.” Assad made his first public remarks on Saturday night. “No matter how much their attacks intensify, Syria can defeat them,” he continued.
His forces were sending “large reinforcements and drawing a defensive line around several cities and villages,” according to the observatory’s report on Sunday. The Hama governate is located south of Aleppo.
Iran’s increased support for Assad highlights the conflict’s geopolitical implications and reveals a convoluted network of rivalries, factions, and outside interventions that guarantee Syria’s unrest will continue.
Although Assad is in charge of around 70% of Syria, a combination of opposition organizations, Kurdish forces, and nations like the United States and Turkey control the other parts.
Syria serves as a barrier against Israeli influence and a land passage to Hezbollah in Lebanon, making it an essential component of Tehran’s regional strategy.
Russia, which helped shift the tide of the 2016 battle for Aleppo between Syrian government forces and rebel fighters, is mirrored in Iran’s support for Assad. With opposition groups and their foreign supporters in control of areas on the outside, the win assisted Assad in solidifying his influence on key regions of Syria.
In addition to strengthening Assad’s hold on power, Moscow’s action guaranteed its military presence in Syria, notably the naval port at Tartus.
Turkey, a major supporter of Syrian opposition groups, claimed that its diplomatic attempts to halt government attacks on areas controlled by the opposition had not succeeded in recent weeks. These were against the terms of a de-escalation deal it, Russia, and Iran endorsed.
But its main goal is to weaken rebel organizations that are supported by Kurdish people close to its borders. According to Ankara, Syrian Kurdish militants are a continuation of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been engaged in a battle that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1980s over autonomy in southeast Turkey.
For its part, the United States opposes Iran, Russia, and Assad, but it has sided with Syrian Kurdish fighters in spite of their conflict with NATO partners Turkey.
While bakeries remained open, Aleppo’s government offices and schools were closed on Saturday as the majority of people remained home, according to pro-government radio station Sham FM.
Aleppo’s two main public hospitals were reportedly overflowing with patients on Friday, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, while other private clinics were shuttered.
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