Longtime ally in Syria collapses, Iran affirms readiness to "live with new reality", Israel takes advantage of opportunity

Iran and Israel, two longtime rivals in the Middle East, have had different reactions to the fall of the al-Assad regime in Syria.

Iran is ready to 'live with the new reality' in Syria, while Israel claims control of the buffer zone between it and Damascus. (Source: Jiss)

On December 12, the state news agency IRNA quoted the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), General Hossein Salami, as saying that the country must "live with the new reality" in Syria after the overthrow of Tehran-backed President Bashar al-Assad.

“Iran has really been trying day and night to help in every way possible; we have to live with the realities in Syria; we recognize and act based on those realities,” General Salami shared.

Strategies must change according to circumstances, he said, stressing that “many global and regional problems cannot be solved with stagnant thinking and using outdated tactics.”

Iran was a strong ally of the al-Assad family, which ruled Syria for decades until it was ousted last weekend when a lightning offensive by opposition forces captured the capital Damascus.

Mr al-Assad has played a strategic role in Iran's "axis of resistance" against Israel, particularly in facilitating arms shipments to Tehran's ally Hezbollah in neighboring Lebanon.

The “axis of resistance” includes Hezbollah, Hamas in Gaza, the Houthis in Yemen and a number of smaller Shi'ite militias in Iraq.

On the same day, the IRGC strongly condemned “the US and Israel taking advantage of the current instability in Syria.” The statement was made in the context of Israel taking advantage of the chaotic situation in Syria, sending troops to control the buffer zone on the edge of the Golan Heights, in the Syrian border area with Israel.

On December 12, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared: "Israel will not allow jihadist groups to fill this vacuum and threaten Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights in the manner of the October 7 attacks."

According to him, that is why Israeli forces entered the buffer zone and took control of strategic points near the Israeli border. The leader also noted that this deployment is only temporary until a force (from Syria) appears that is committed to implementing the 1974 agreement and ensuring security at the border between the two countries.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/long-standing-alliance-in-syria-sup-do-iran-khang-dinh-san-sang-chung-song-voi-thuc-te-moi-israel-loi-dung-thoi-co-297186.html