Iran will send missiles, drones and more advisers to Syria, a senior Iranian official said on Friday, as rebel forces pushed their lightning offensive south toward the city of Homsin what constitutes the greatest challenge in years to the President’s Government Bashar al-Asad.
The capture of Homs would isolate DamascusSyria’s coastal capital, a former stronghold of al-Assad’s minority Alawite sect where his Russian allies have a naval base and an air base.
The head of the Syrian faction leading the sweeping assault told the CNN that his group—a former al-Qaeda affiliate now known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)—aimed to “build Syria” and bring Syrian refugees back home from Lebanon and Europe.
It was the first interview of Abu Mohamed al-Golani since his group began taking territory from al-Assad’s forces on November 27. The rebels have so far captured two major cities and are now heading towards the key crossroads of the city of Homs.
HTS split from al-Qaeda in 2016, says he poses no threat to the West and has spent years trying to moderate his image, presenting himself as a viable alternative to al-Asad.
Iran has been focused on tensions with its archenemy, Israel, since the Gaza war broke out in October 2023. The two sides have exchanged projectiles, after decades of shadow war.
“Tehran will likely have to send military equipment, missiles and drones to Syria (…). Tehran “has taken all necessary measures to increase the number of its military advisors in Syria and deploy forces,” the senior official said, on condition of anonymity.
“Now, Tehran is providing intelligence and satellite support to Syria”.
Hezbollahfor its part, sent a small number of “supervisory forces” from Lebanon to Syria overnight to help prevent anti-government fighters from taking Homs, two senior Lebanese security sources told Reuters.
A Syrian military official and two regional officials close to Tehran also told Reuters that elite Hezbollah forces, backed by Iran, had crossed from Lebanon overnight and taken up positions in Homs.
The HTS rebels said they had taken the cities of Talbisa and Rastan and they were located a few kilometers from Homs.
Another alarming fact for al-Assad is that, according to the head of the US-backed Syrian Kurdish force, the radical Islamic State group, which led a reign of terror in swaths of Iraq and Syria until its defeat by a coalition led by USA In 2017, it had now taken control of some areas in eastern Syria.
“Due to the latest events, there is an increase in the movements of Islamic State mercenaries in the Syrian desert, in the south and west of Says al-Zur and in the countryside of Raqa,” Mazlum Abdi said in a press conference, referring to areas in the east of the country.
Al-Assad relied heavily on Russian and Iranian military backing during the most intense years of the civil war, helping him recapture most of Syria’s territory and largest cities before the front lines collapsed. will tighten in 2020.
However, Russia has been focused on its invasion of Ukraine since 2022 and many members of the leadership of Hezbollahthe most powerful militia aligned with Iran, were killed by Israel in the last two months.
