Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday that Syria would defeat what he described as a foreign plot being waged against the country, the official SANA news agency reported.

“The Syrian people will not allow this conspiracy to achieve its objectives,” Assad was quoted by SANA as having said. “What is happening now is not only directed at Syria but the whole region. Because Syria is the cornerstone, foreign powers are targeting it so their conspiracy succeeds across the entire region.”