Unidentified gunmen attacked the Iranian embassy in Damascus on Sunday, after Islamic rebels seized the city and overthrew President Bashar al-Assad's government. Russia's Foreign Ministry said he fled the country and left behind “instructions” for the transfer of power.
Iranian state television reported on the incident at the embassy, saying it did not believe the armed group belonged to a broader rebel group that had taken over the city. Iran withdrew most of its officials and their families on Saturday, leaving only a few diplomats behind.
“The Iranian embassy is said to have been attacked, along with nearby shops, by an armed group different from the one currently in control.” [most of] Syria,” Iranian state television said, referring to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which has spearheaded the recent rebel advance.
Arab and Iranian media shared footage from inside the embassy compound showing attackers scavenging furniture and documents inside the building and smashing some windows.
Syria's Islamic rebels catch Assad, Putin and the Iranian regime off guard, creating new Middle East headache
Hezbollah leader Saeed Hassan Nasrallah and the late Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Qasem Soleimani after Syrian rebels announced they had ousted President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Syria, December 8, 2024. Rebel soldiers stand near the Iranian embassy holding torn government posters. (Reuters/Firas Makdesi)
Syrian TV reports said President Assad and his British-born wife Asma al-Assad fled Damascus this weekend with their three children. It was unclear where they were heading.
A video statement from a group of men on Syrian state television announced that President Bashar al-Assad had been overthrown and that all prisoners had been released.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said early Sunday that he did not know Assad's whereabouts. He told Saudi TV station Al Arabiya that communications were cut off on Saturday night.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a telegram on Sunday that Assad has left Syria after negotiations with rebels and that the country's longtime leader has left “instructions” for a “peaceful transfer of power.” said. The Russian Ministry said the Kremlin was not directly involved in these discussions.
Top Shot – A photo taken on December 3, 2024 at the entrance to the Kwailis military airfield in eastern Aleppo province shows a portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a man placed in a garbage dump after the occupation of the area. The national flag is shown. By rebel forces. (Photo by RAMI AL SAYED/AFP via Getty Images)
Thousands of Syrians gathered in Damascus's central square to celebrate the news of Assad's resignation. Some chanted anti-Assad slogans and honked their horns. Gunfire rang out in celebration in other areas.
Syria has been embroiled in a bloody civil war for nearly 14 years, with Islamic rebels seeking to overthrow the Assad dynasty. The apparent collapse of more than 50 years of Assad family rule over the Syrian Arab Republic marks a monumental turning point in Middle Eastern politics.
President Trump urges people to stay out of Syria's civil war, blames Obama for failure as Islamists close in on capital
The overthrow of Syria's Assad poses a further crisis in the Middle East that the incoming Trump administration will face. (Getty Images)
HTS Islamist leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani, who is facing a $10 million bounty from the United States, is seeking to tone down the radical Islamism that has become a hallmark of the years-long war against Iraq in Syria and Iraq. I'm trying to present a version. American military. Mr. Al-Golani was captured by the U.S. military during the first decade of this century.
Syria experts told FOX News Digital that HTS is trying to impose a totalitarian Islamist regime on its people. Philip Smith, an expert on Iranian regime proxies and Syria at the Atlantic Council, told Fox News Digital: “HTS is an al-Qaeda offshoot and has ties to Turkey. Their ultimate goal is… To create a Taliban-like society With some adjustments. ”
On Saturday, December 7, 2024, Syrian opposition fighters remove the Syrian government flag from a government building in Salamiya, eastern Hama, Syria. (AP Photo/Ghaith Al-Sayed)
Al-Golani banned fighter jets from firing into the air in Damascus.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
“Public institutions will remain under the supervision of the Prime Minister until formally handed over,” he said in a statement posted on his group's social media.
Fox News' Benjamin Weinthal, Bradford Betz and Reuters contributed to this report.
