BEIRUT, December 18. /TASS/. The latest events in Syria were not unexpected, as they were a consequence of actions of external forces, including Israel, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview with the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar.
"Contrary to the mood in the news media, I personally did not view what happened in Syria as something unexpected," he said. "The events, which at first glance seemed sudden and swift, in reality had their own underlying reasons and roots going back at least 10-12 years."
"The existence of multiple external actors with overlapping and sometimes conflicting objectives, whose common denominator was the overthrow of the existing system, ultimately led to the rapid developments we have seen," Araghchi went on to say.
According to the minister, Israel over the past 14 months regularly carried out strikes at Syria’s defense infrastructure in order to weaken the Syrian government.
Syria’s armed opposition units started a major offensive on government troops at the end of November. On December 8, they entered Damascus while government troops withdrew from the city. Bashar Assad resigned as president and left the country.
Mohammed al-Bashir announced on December 10 that he will lead a transitional cabinet in Syria until March 2025. He had previously headed the opposition’s Salvation Government in Idlib since January 2024.