Iran
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaking during a ceremony in Tehran on December 22, 2024. Photo: IRNA
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran does not have any proxy forces in the region and is fully capable of taking direct action if necessary, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Sunday, two weeks after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad by rebels.
“They keep saying that the Islamic republic lost its proxy forces in the region. This is another mistake. The Islamic republic does not have a proxy force,” Khamenei said in a speech in Tehran.
Iran was a staunch supporter of Assad’s Syrian regime, which was toppled by a coalition of rebel groups spearheaded by the Islamist Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on December 8.
Khamenei said that the regional forces “are fighting because they have faith” and not because Tehran supports them.
”If we want to take action one day, we do not need a proxy force,” he affirmed, blaming the United States and Israel for being behind the recent developments in Syria.
Tehran’s foreign ministry on Friday accused the US and Israel of having a “master plan” for the Middle East after a Washington official said there will be no place for Iran in the new Syria.
Barbara Leaf, US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, said on Friday that “Iran will have no role” in Syria after meeting the new Syrian authorities in Damascus.
Since the inception of the Islamic republic, Tehran has formed a network of influence in the Middle East in a pragmatic way and not based solely on religious ideology.
The Quds Force, the foreign arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), is the center of coordination with the groups, which form the so-called “Axis of Resistance” to expand Iran’s hegemony in the region and counter Western influence.
They are most prevalent in Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen, and previously in Syria, where Tehran predominantly backs Shiite groups with Hezbollah being the heart of the network.
Iran has also not shied away from forging ties with Sunni groups and political parties in the region, including in Palestine and Afghanistan, to deter itself against its enemies.
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