Tehran's allies are fighting for their beliefs, “not by proxy for Iran,” the supreme leader said this Sunday.
Iran “doesn't” of auxiliaries in the Middle East and has none “no need”Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said this Sunday, December 22, two weeks after the fall in Syria of a long-time ally, deposed President Bashar al-Assad.
Syria has long played a strategic role in “the axis of resistance” of Tehran, an informal alliance which brings together armed groups around Iran united in their opposition to Israel. It includes Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Shiite militias in Iraq and the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Bashar al-Assad's Syria constituted an essential link in this “axis of resistance” anti-Israeli.
Tehran’s allies are not fighting “by proxy”
“They (the Americans, Editor’s note) keep saying that the Islamic Republic has lost its auxiliary forces” with the fall of Assad in Syria, noted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “It’s a mistake”said the Iranian leader, in power since 1989, in front of an audience in Tehran. “The Islamic Republic has no auxiliary force” in the Middle East, he said, adding that Tehran's allies are fighting for their beliefs, “not by proxy for Iran”.
Iran invested politically, financially but also militarily in Syria under Bashar al-Assad, with the sending of what Tehran presented as “advisers” soldiers to support its army and fight against the jihadism of the Islamic State (IS).
HTS, a setback for Iran
The seizure of power in Syria, by a coalition dominated by radical Islamists from the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, is seen as a setback for Iran, at a time when its ally Hezbollah is emerging weakened from a war in Syria. Lebanon against Israel. Ali Khamenei said he predicted “the emergence of a strong and honorable group” in Syria, claiming that the youth “has nothing to lose”.
It is not clear whether his remarks imply an overthrow of the coalition in Syria, which ended half a century of rule by the Assad family.
The Iranian Supreme Leader, who has the final say on all strategic decisions, has also accused the United States, Tehran's sworn enemy, of seeking to sow chaos in Iran. “The Iranian nation will trample anyone who accepts the role of mercenary for America in this regard”assured Ali Khamenei.
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