Camille Naredo

A handout picture provided by the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's office shows him delivering the sermon for the Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran on October 4, 2024. Handout/Khamenei.IR via AFP/File

A handout picture provided by the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's office shows him delivering the sermon for the Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran on October 4, 2024. - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, delivering a rare Friday sermon in Arabic, defended this week's missile attack on Israel that deepened fears of a regional war and praised allies' defiance. (Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / HO / KHAMENEI.IR" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Article (news)

iran

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1733920152807AFP__20241004__36J32KV__v1__HighRes__IranLebanonPalestinianIsraelConflict.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="A handout picture provided by the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei&#x27;s office shows him delivering the sermon for the Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran on October 4, 2024. Handout/Khamenei.IR via AFP/File"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">A handout picture provided by the Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei&#x27;s office shows him delivering the sermon for the Friday prayer ceremony in Tehran on October 4, 2024. <em>Handout/Khamenei.IR via AFP/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran&#x27;s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that the weakening of the anti-Israel &quot;resistance&quot; after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in Syria would not diminish Tehran&#x27;s power.</p><p>Some, &quot;unaware of the meaning of resistance, imagine that when the resistance becomes weak, Islamic Iran will also become weak... Iran is strong and powerful and will become even more powerful,&quot; Khamenei said in his first speech after Assad&#x27;s fall.</p><p>Syrian rebels&#x27; lightning push to Damascus from their strongholds in the northwest ended the decades-long rule of Assad&#x27;s family, once an ally of Tehran.</p><p>Assad had long played a strategic role in Iran&#x27;s anti-Israel &quot;axis of resistance&quot;, particularly in facilitating the supply of weapons to Tehran&#x27;s ally Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.</p><p>The axis of resistance includes Hezbollah, as well as Hamas in Gaza, Huthi rebels in Yemen and smaller Shia militia groups in Iraq.</p><p>All of the groups are united in their opposition to Israel and its main backer the United States.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/8/rebels-on-syrian-state-tv-say-toppled-tyrant-bashar-al-assad-1458">READ: Rebels on Syrian state TV say toppled &#x27;tyrant&#x27; Bashar al-Assad</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/10/un-says-israel-bombardment-of-syria-must-stop-2043">READ: UN says Israel bombardment of Syria &#x27;must stop&#x27;</a></div><p>The Iranian supreme leader, who has the final say in his country&#x27;s affairs, accused the United States and &quot;the Zionist regime&quot;, Israel, of plotting against Assad.</p><p>&quot;No one should doubt that what has taken place in Syria is the product of a joint US-Israeli plot,&quot; he said.</p><p>He also blamed another &quot;neighboring state of Syria&quot; for its &quot;obvious role&quot; in the recent developments, without naming the country.</p><p>Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey all share borders with Syria.</p><p>Of those neighbors, Turkey has long supported the ouster of Assad.</p><script data-wid="auto" type="text/javascript" src="https://content.viralize.tv/display/?zid=AAEyze-tm4MR6kEa&amp;cid=ABRmccS_4Q6zeOuD&amp;activation=click&amp;vip_mode=playing&amp;vip_position=bottom-right"></script><p>According to Khamenei, different &quot;invaders&quot; in Syria were pursuing different aims.</p><p>&quot;Their goals are different, some of them are seeking to seize the lands of northern or southern Syria, America is seeking to strengthen its position in the region,&quot; he said.</p><p>Turkey has forces in northern Syria, while in the south the Israeli army has sent troops into a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the countries&#x27; shared border, east of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.</p><p>The US also has troops based in Syria, where they have worked with Kurdish-led fighters battling the Islamic State group.</p><p>Ties between Tehran and Damascus peaked during the Syrian civil war that started in 2011, with Iran sending what it called &quot;military advisers&quot; to help Assad.</p><p>Khamenei nodded to Iranian forces&#x27; advisory role in the country, and appeared to lament that Assad had &quot;an army that can&#x27;t stand and runs away&quot;.</p><p>Syria could have been helped, he added, if &quot;the motivations remained the same inside that country&quot; as they had earlier in the war.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2024/12/8/nations-urge-stability-as-syrian-rebels-oust-assad-0043">READ: Nations urge stability as Syrian rebels oust Assad</a></div>

<p>Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that the weakening of the anti-Israel "resistance" after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in Syria would not diminish Tehran's power. </p>

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday that the weakening of the anti-Israel "resistance" after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad in Syria would not diminish Tehran's power.

Khamenei says Assad's fall will not weaken Iran

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Khamenei says Assad's fall will not weaken Iran

Agence France-Presse

Published December 11, 2024 10:01 PM PHT

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