Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday morning claimed that the fall of the Assad regime in Syria was orchestrated by Israel.
Speaking about the Assad regime's downfall for the first time, Khamenei said, "A neighboring government of Syria has played an obvious role in this regard and is still playing it now, everyone can see this."
He added that the main agent and co-conspirator in the developments are the US and the "Zionist regime," who "planned it ahead of time, in dark rooms."
Iran poured billions into supporting Assad’s regime during the Syrian civil war, viewing his survival as key to its regional “axis of resistance,” a network conceived by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the late IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani.
Losing Syria is a critical blow to Iran, given its role as the main supply route for Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. “You need someone there to send arms to [but] they are either getting killed or escaping. Now the focus is on how to move forward from this impasse,” an IRGC official told The Telegraph.
“For now, there are no discussions about arms, as everyone is trying to understand what is really happening and how dangerous it is for Iran,” he added.