A band of unidentified armed individuals raided the Iranian embassy in Damascus, following the capture of the city by Islamist rebels who overthrew Bashar Assad’s regime. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Assad had fled the country, leaving behind “instructions” for a transfer of power.
According to Iranian state television, the embassy attack was carried out by gunmen not associated with the main rebel group that had taken control of the city. Iran had evacuated most of its officials and their families the day before, leaving only a small number of diplomats at the embassy.
Iranian state TV reported that the embassy was attacked by a different armed group than the one currently in control of most of Syria, specifically pointing out Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) as the leading faction behind the recent rebel progress.
Arab and Iranian media have shared footage from inside the embassy’s premises, where assailants rummaged through furniture and documents inside the building and damaged some windows.
The overthrow of Assad in Syria presents yet another crisis in the Middle East facing the incoming Trump administration. (Getty Images)
Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the Islamist leader of HTS, who has a $10 million bounty on his head from the U.S., seeks to present a toned-down version of the radical Islamism that has defined his years of fighting in Syria and in Iraq against American troops. Al-Golani was detained by the U.S. military in the first decade of this century.
Syrian experts have told Fox News Digital that HTS seeks to impose a totalitarian Islamist regime on the population. Phillip Smyth, an expert on Iranian regime proxy groups and Syria, who is with the Atlantic Council, told Fox News Digital, “HTS is a group that is an outgrowth of Al-Qaeda and has connections to Turkey. Their endgame is to create a Taliban-esque society with a few tweaks.”
Opposition fighters remove a government flag from an official building in Salamiyah, east of Hama, Syria, Saturday Dec. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Al-Golani banned his fighters from opening fire into the air in Damascus.Â
“Public institutions will remain under the supervision of the prime minister until they are officially handed over,” he said in a statement published on his group’s social media outlets.
Fox News’ Benjamin Weinthal, Bradford Betz, the Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
