The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic had not been weakened following the fall of its ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Iranian media reported.

“We have not been weakened and Iran’s power has not diminished,” Hossein Salami was quoted as telling members of parliament in a closed session.

Iran and Russia had propped up Assad’s rule since Syria’s civil war erupted in 2011 with military support, men and airpower. Tehran deployed its Revolutionary Guards to Syria to keep its ally in power to maintain Tehran’s “Axis of Resistance” to Israel and U.S. influence in the Middle East.

Assad’s exit has eroded Tehran’s ability to project power and sustain its network of militia groups across the region, particularly to its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, which agreed a ceasefire with Israel last month.

“The overthrow of the Zionist regime (Israel) is not off the agenda,” Salami said in the session which met to discuss the latest developments in Syria.

Salami said no Iranian forces remained in Syria.

Following Assad’s fall from power, Iran’s foreign ministry called for a national dialogue to form an inclusive government representing all segments of Syrian society. Iran’s government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani on Tuesday called for “respect for Syria’s territorial integrity”, saying the Syrian people should decide their own fate.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

People celebrate and ride motocycles in the Syrian southern city of Daraa on December 7, 2024, after the collapse of government forces. – Syria’s army said it was redeploying in two southern provinces on December 7
| Photo Credit: AFP

Syrian rebels announced they gained full control over the key city of Homs early on Sunday (December 8, 2024) after only a day of fighting, leaving President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year rule dangling by a thread as insurgents marched on the capital, Damascus.

Thousands of Homs residents poured onto the streets after the army withdrew from the central city, dancing and chanting “Assad is gone, Homs is free” and “Long live Syria and down with Bashar al-Assad”.

FOLLOW MORE: Syria civil war LIVE updates: Syrian rebels announce full control over Homs; government forces withdraw

Rebels fired into the air in celebration, and youths tore down posters of the Syrian president, whose territorial control has collapsed in a dizzying week-long retreat by the military.

The fall of Homs gives the insurgents control over Syria’s strategic heartland and a key highway crossroads, severing Damascus from the coastal region that is the stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect and where his Russian allies have a naval base and air base.

Homs’ capture is also a powerful symbol of the rebel movement’s dramatic comeback in the 13-year-old conflict. Swathes of Homs were destroyed by gruelling siege warfare between the rebels and the army years ago. The fighting ground down the insurgents, who were forced out.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham commander Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the main rebel leader, called the capture of Homs a historic moment and urged fighters not to harm “those who drop their arms”.

Rebels freed thousands of detainees from the city prison. Security forces left in haste after burning their documents.

The battle for control of the country is likely to turn quickly to the capital. Residents of numerous Damascus districts turned out to protest Assad on Saturday evening, and security forces were either unwilling or unable to clamp down.

Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghani said in a statement early Sunday that operations were ongoing to “completely liberate” the countryside around Damascus and rebel forces were looking toward the capital.

In one suburb, a statue of Assad’s father, the late President Hafez al-Assad, was toppled and torn apart.

The Syrian army said it was reinforcing around Damascus, and state television reported on Saturday that Assad remained in the city.

Outside the city, rebels swept across the entire southwest over 24 hours and established control.

A military vehicle belonging to the Syrian regime forces and seized by anti government forces burns after it was hit by regime forces, in the Hama governorate, on December 7, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Islamist-led rebels entered Syria’s third city Homs late Saturday (December 7, 2024) taking control of some districts, a war monitor said, drawing a swift denial from the defence ministry.

FOLLOW MORE:Syria civil war LIVE updates: Syrian rebels captures Homs central prison; Syrian government forces withdraw

The loss of Homs would be another major blow to the forces of President Bahar al-Assad, as it lies at a strategic crossroads between Damascus and his stronghold on the Mediterranean coast.

“Rebel factions entered the city of Homs and took control of some neighbourhoods after the withdrawal of security forces and the army from their last positions in the city,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Hundreds of detainees had escaped from the city’s central prison, he added.

The defence ministry countered that the city remained under its control, its troops maintaining their positions around the city.

“The reports published by media platforms affiliated to terrorist organisations about the entry of terrorists into the city of Homs are baseless,” it said in a statement.

“The situation is secure and stable, and our armed forces are deployed around the city positioned on solid defence lines.”

AFP has been unable to independently verify some of the information provided by the government and the rebels, as its journalists cannot reach some of the areas where the rebels say they are present.

Syrian opposition fighters drive past a burning government armoured vehicle south of Hama, Syria, on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

A Syrian opposition war monitor and a pro-government media outlet say government forces have withdrawn from much of the central city of Homs.

FOLLOW MORE: Syria civil war LIVE updates: Homs central prison captured by Syrian rebels; Government forces seen withdrawing

The pro-government Sham FM reported that government forces took positions outside Syria’s third-largest city, without elaborating. Rami Abdurrahman who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Syrian troops and members of different security agencies have withdrawn from the city, adding that rebels have entered parts of it.

Major blow for Syria’s Bashar Assad

Losing Homs is a potentially crippling blow for Syria’s embattled leader, Bashar Assad. The city stands at an important intersection between Damascus and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus — the Syrian leader’s base of support and home to a Russian strategic naval base.

Its capture is a major victory for insurgents, who have already seized the cities of Aleppo and Hama, as well as large parts of the south, in a lightning offensive that began Nov. 27. Analysts said Homs falling into rebel hands would be a game-changer.

Insurgents’ stunning march across Syria gained speed on Saturday with news that they had reached the suburbs of the capital and with the government forced to deny rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country.

Syrian rebels in Damascus

The rebels’ moves around Damascus, reported by an opposition war monitor and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters.

The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. In their push to overthrow Assad’s government, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army.