At a time when Hezbollah and Israel have signed a shaky ceasefire and Hamas is seriously weakened in Gaza, one of Iran’s other proxy strongholds in the Middle East is causing increasing concern for the ayatollahs of the Islamic Republic of Iran: Syria.
Dozens of Syrian Army soldiers have been killed as rebels of the Islamist terror group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham swept into the major city of Aleppo, forcing the army to redeploy in the biggest challenge to President Bashar al-Assad in years.
Russia, a major Assad ally, said its air force had carried out strikes on Syrian rebels in support of the country’s army, following what was the boldest rebel assault for years in a civil war where front lines had largely been frozen since 2020.
Iranian-backed militias also entered Syria on Sunday night from Iraq to support Assad and were heading to northern Syria to reinforce the beleaguered Syrian Army forces battling insurgents, according to Syrian Army sources. Dozens of Iran-aligned Iraqi Hashd al-Shaabi fighters from Iraq also crossed into Syria through a military route near Al Bukamal crossing.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, once known as the Nusra Front, is designated a terrorist group by the United States, Russia, Turkey, and other states.
To throw his opinion into the mix, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei sent out a post on X on Sunday evening, addressing the current situation in Syria, stating, “Takfiri groups are good news for enemies of the world of Islam. Exactly at a time when all Islamic Ummah’s attention is focused on the issue of Palestine, takfiri [apostate] groups, [that] instead of concentrating on [the] Zionist regime’s malevolent nature, draw the attention to other places. #Syria”
https://x.com/khamenei_ir/status/1863289955964911672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1863289955964911672%7Ctwgr%5E97b87b75fef286b64459f79e26959793ff330110%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jpost.com%2Fmiddle-east%2Farticle-831597
Khamenei’s post criticizes takfiri groups, a term often used to describe extremist Sunni factions that declare other Muslims apostates. He accused these groups of serving the interests of Islam’s enemies, such as the US and Israel, by diverting attention away from the Palestinian cause and the “malevolent nature” of the “Zionist regime.”
This perspective aligns with Khamenei’s long-standing belief in the umma (Muslim community at large) – that unity among Muslims is essential to resist external threats, particularly from Israel. By engaging in internal conflicts – such as those in Syria – takfiri groups weaken the Islamic world and shift focus from what Khamenei views as the central issues: Palestinian liberation and opposition to Zionism.
Source » jpost