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Iran in direct contact with militant groups within Syria’s new leadership: Reuters

By
IFP Media Wire
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Tehran has opened a direct line of communication with the leaders of Syria’s armed opposition that has seized power in Damascus, Reuters reports, citing a senior Iranian official.

According to him, the move was aimed at preventing “a hostile trajectory” between the countries.

The official added that Iran was open to engaging with Syria’s new leaders.

“This engagement is key to stabilizing ties and avoiding further regional tensions,” he pointed out.

Iran has stressed that only the Syrian people can make decisions about the country’s fate without any “destructive” foreign meddling.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Sunday following the fall of the Syrian government after militant groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) stormed and captured the capital Damascus.

The statement again reaffirmed the Islamic Republic’s principled stance on respecting Syria’s unity, national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“In order to achieve this important [issue], it is necessary to end military conflicts as soon as possible, prevent terrorist acts, and initiate national dialogue with the participation of all segments of Syrian society to form an inclusive government that represents all Syrian people,” it said.

It emphasized that Iran supports international mechanisms based on United Nations Resolution 2254 to pursue the political process in Syria, as it has in the past.

The ministry added that Iran will continue its constructive interaction with the UN in this regard.

Iran reiterates the status of Syria as an “important and influential” country in the West Asia region and will spare no effort to help the country establish security and stability, it pointed out.

According to the statement, Iran will continue its consultations with all influential parties, particularly those in the region.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran closely monitors developments in Syria and the region and will adopt appropriate approaches and positions while taking into account the behavior and performance of influential players in the Syrian political and security scene,” it said.

The ministry stressed the importance of ensuring the security of all Syrian citizens and nationals of other countries as well as preserving the sanctity of religious and holy sites.

It is also imperative to protect diplomatic and consular premises in accordance with international law, it added.

Pointing to deep-rooted and cordial relations between the Iranian and Syrian people, it is expected that the two countries will pursue a wise and far-sighted approach to maintain mutual ties based on common interests, the statement said.

Britain considering removing HTS from terror list

By
IFP Media Wire
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Speaking to the BBC a day after HTS-led rebels ousted President Bashar al-Assad, UK government minister Pat McFadden said any move to delist the former al-Qaeda affiliate would be a “relatively swift decision” considering the fluid situation in Syria.

“The leader of that group has distanced himself away from some of the things that have been said in the past,” McFadden told the BBC’s Today programme.

“He is saying some of the right things about the protection of minorities, about protecting people’s rights. So we’ll look at that in the days to come.”

HTS is listed by the UK’s Home Office as an “alternative name” for al-Qaeda, the armed group that carried out the 11 September 2001 World Trade Centre attacks.

In 2016, HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani (real name Ahmed al-Sharaa) publicly broke with al-Qaeda and has since then pledged protection for minorities and to respect Syria’s diversity.

A senior Arab official briefed by the US told Middle East Eye on Sunday that US officials were also discussing the merits of removing a $10m bounty on Jolani.

McFadden told the BBC that there had been “no request” for Assad’s London-born and raised wife, Asma al-Assad – a British passport holder – to return to the UK.

“They’re in Russia. They’ve sought asylum there, refuge there, as far as I know. So, it’s not an issue that’s come up.”

Int’l artistic event in Iran condemns Israel’s ‘savagery’ against children in Gaza, Lebanon

By
IFP Media Wire
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Titled “We Do Not End”, the event went underway in Tehran on Monday, with senior officials, other personalities and experts in attendance.

The event was held in cooperation with more than a dozen people-based organizations, the national network of non-governmental humanitarian bodies, and Iran’s Institute for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults.

Addressing the occasion, Gholam-Hossein Darzi, director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Sustained Development and Environmental Department, noted that tens of thousands of people had been killed as a result of the Israeli regime’s 14-month-old genocidal war on Gaza and escalation against Lebanon.

He said that women and children comprised “more than 70 percent” of the fatalities.

Darzi considered the Israeli atrocities that have been taking place in full view of members of the international community to be perfect examples of “genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.”

The sheer extent of the casualties and destruction caused by the genocide in Gaza “serves as a clear indicator of a calculated conspiracy aimed at bringing about the destruction of a nation through causing its forced displacement from Palestine,” the official said.

“Besides amounting to an affront to humanity, the volume of savagery serves as complete disregard for [various] values, norms, civilizations, and the foundational principles of the international law, especially the humanitarian international law.”

The official, therefore, urged comprehensive and proactive international endeavor aimed at forcing the regime to completely cease its atrocities, respect humanitarian commitments, and allow global organizations’ access to Gaza towards assessing the extent of the damage that has been caused to the coastal sliver.

Russia confirms Putin personally approved Assad’s asylum following Syrian gov’t fall

By
IFP Media Wire
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Kremlin

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a press briefing that there was no meeting scheduled to take place between Putin and Assad. “There is nothing to say regarding Assad’s whereabouts,” he added.

When asked how Assad had been granted political asylum, Peskov said: “Such decisions cannot be made without the head of state; it is his decision.”

On Sunday, Russian media reported that Assad and his family had been granted asylum in Russia “on humanitarian grounds”. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Assad agreed to step down following negotiations with armed opposition groups and instructed officials to ensure a “peaceful transfer of power”.

Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) jihadists, along with other anti-government factions, seized control of Damascus on Saturday following a swift advance in several regions of Syria.

Kurds say Turkish drone attack killed several in Syria

By
IFP Media Wire
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Turkish Drone

The US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a statement on Monday that the Turkish drone strike in the village of al-Mistriha killed 12 civilians, including six children.

This is while the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the number of fatalities at eleven, noting they were all members of the same family.

Meanwhile, Turkish-backed militants from the so-called Syrian National Army have launched an offensive against US-backed SDF in the northern Syrian city of Manbij.

Turkish security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, asserted on Monday that “control of Manbij has been secured”, without providing further details.

Ankara-backed militants were deployed to northeastern Syria in October 2019 after Turkish military forces launched a long-threatened cross-border invasion in a declared attempt to push members of the US-backed Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) militant group away from border areas.

Ankara views the YPG as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has been seeking an autonomous Kurdish region in Turkey since 1984.

Militant groups, led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), announced on Sunday that they had fully captured the Syrian capital Damascus, and confirmed reports of the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s government. Assad’s fall came less than two weeks after the HTS-led militants waged a surprise two-pronged attack on Syria’s Aleppo and the countryside around Idlib before taking control of a number of cities, including Damascus.

Ukraine has lost 43k soldiers in action since start of war: Zelensky

By
IFP Media Wire
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Russia Ukraine War

This figure contrasts a claim by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who wrote on his Truth Social platform that Ukrainian military losses had reached “400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians”.

In his post, Zelensky wrote that “Ukraine has lost 43,000 soldiers killed in action on the battlefield”, adding that there have been “370,000 cases of medical assistance for the wounded”, which includes light or repeat injuries.

It is unclear if Trump was referring to total casualties — soldiers killed and injured — in his Truth Social post.

Zelensky also noted that approximately half of the soldiers wounded in action later return to the battlefield.

“This is a testament to the resilience of our Armed Forces and the effectiveness of our medical teams,” Zelensky said.

“Since September this year, Russia has been losing troops on the battlefield at a ratio of 5-to-1, or even 6-to-1, compared to us,” he added.

As of August, Russia’s war has killed 11,743 civilians and injured 24,614, according to the UN, but the actual figures are likely much higher. A lack of access to Russian-occupied and front-line areas makes it nearly impossible to gather accurate casualty numbers.

The updated battlefield casualty figure provided by Zelensky reflects a rise from his February estimate of 31,000 total deaths.

Up until that moment, Ukraine had kept the number of troops killed a secret. Zelensky did not clarify at that time what the government’s definition of a troop casualty was.

In recent months, Zelensky and other officials have actively addressed and refuted various claims regarding Ukrainian military losses.

In an interview with Kyodo News, Zelensky rejected Western media reports suggesting that as many as 80,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the ongoing war with Russia.

Militants informed Turkey about plan to oust Assad: Report

By
IFP Media Wire
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Syria War

The militants notified Turkey about their intention to conduct the attack around six months ago, Reuters reported on Monday, citing a “diplomat in the region” and an alleged member of the anti-Damascus groups.

The Syrian source told the agency that the militants “had shown Turkey details of the planning”, urging Ankara not to intervene in the attack.

After communicating the scheme, the militants “felt they had received its (Ankara’s) tacit approval”, the sources noted.

“There was no way” the militants “could go ahead without first notifying Turkey,” one added.

The comments came a day after the militants stormed the Syrian capital after scoring major gains in the Arab country’s north around two weeks following their staging a resurgence.

Reports, meanwhile, would point to strong support for the armed groups on the part of Ankara and some Western states, which have been acting as the main backers of anti-Damascus outfits since the outbreak of foreign-backed militancy in Syria in 2011.

On Sunday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan claimed that the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had tried in the months that ran up to the militant offensive to engage with Assad, adding Ankara “knew something was coming”.

Reuters’ sources also stated that the militants had “sensed a stiffening of Ankara’s stance towards Assad earlier this year.”

Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz, however, claimed that Ankara was not behind the offensive, and did not provide its consent.

A Turkish official also told the agency that Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main armed group that took on Syria during the invasion, “does not receive orders or direction from us [and] does not coordinate its operations with us either”.

Soaring over Iran’s Maharloo Lake

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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It serves as a primary habitat for flamingos and various bird species, offering sanctuary to a plethora of avian life each year.

These breathtaking images, captured from the lofty heights of paragliders and at altitudes exceeding 3,000 meters, reveal the tranquil yet vibrant life that flourishes around the lake.

The lake’s landscape transforms dramatically with the seasons, painting a picturesque scene that is both serene and awe-inspiring.

Catch a glimpse of the lake in the following pictures:

One million displaced Gazans face extreme winter cold: UN

By
IFP Media Wire
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Gaza War

“Displaced people in Gaza need protection from the rain and cold. Only around 23% of this need has been met, leaving 945,000 people at risk of exposure this winter,” the UN agency said in a statement.

“Aid is urgently required to address the overwhelming needs as the crisis deepens.”

UNRWA added that Palestinian civilians in the central city of Deir al-Balah and across the enclave “search through the rubble of their destroyed homes, trying to salvage what little remains after an Israeli airstrike.”

“As strikes continue, civilian casualties rise, and homes and vital infrastructure are reduced to ruins,” it said.

“The human cost of this war is unbearable,” UNRWA added, reiterating its call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza to prevent further suffering.

Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 44,700 people, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.

Last month, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.

Israeli soldiers occupy more territory in Syria: Report

By
IFP Media Wire
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Israel Army

The outlet quoted Katz as saying he instructed the military on Sunday night “to act immediately in Syria” and that soldiers “continued to seize additional points in the buffer zone”.

Katz also added he instructed the military “to create a security zone free of heavy strategic weapons and terrorist infrastructures that could threaten Israel”.

The move aims “to thwart the renewal of the weapons smuggling route from Iran to Lebanon through Syria and at border crossing points”.

The Israeli military on Sunday morning moved to seize a buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights as the Bashar Assad government falls in Damascus.

The Golan Heights was partly occupied by Israel in 1967, with a buffer zone separating territory they control and territory still held by Syria created in 1974.

Following the ousting of Assad on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said the end of his rule meant that the 50-year-old “disengagement agreement” between the two countries had collapsed and “Syrian forces have abandoned their positions”.

“I directed the [Israeli military] yesterday to seize the buffer zone and the commanding positions nearby. We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border,” he added.

He made the announcement during a visit to the Golan Heights, which is recognised by the vast majority of the world as occupied, with the notable exception of the US.

Later, reports suggested that Israel has seized territory in Syrian-controlled areas of the Golan Heights. The Israeli army also ordered residents of five communities in Syria-controlled territory not to leave their homes until further notice. The communities named were Ofania, Quneitra, Al-Hamidiyah, Al-Samdaniyah Al-Gharbiyah and Al-Qahtania.

Although Netanyahu has publicly welcomed the fall of Assad, he has remained wary about the opposition forces led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate that has been traditionally deeply hostile to Israel.

The Israeli army on Sunday announced a troop deployment to the Golan Heights, citing “the possible entry of armed individuals into the buffer zone”.

“Following the recent events in Syria … the [military] has deployed forces in the buffer zone and in several other places necessary for its defence, to ensure the safety of the communities of the Golan Heights and the citizens of Israel,” it said in a statement, adding that it would “continue to operate as long as necessary in order to preserve the buffer zone and defend Israel”.

It noted that Israel was “not interfering with the internal events in Syria”.

On Sunday, Israeli military aircrafts reportedly bombed Syrian military bases that have fallen into rebel hands. Later on Sunday, there were reports that Israel had struck a scientific research centre in the capital.

Syrian rebels seized Damascus early on Sunday, and announced that Assad had fled to an unknown destination, ending more than five decades of brutal dynastic rule.

Opposition fighters entered Damascus around 5am local time without resistance, quickly capturing the airport, the state TV building and many other strategic government facilities.

Assad had reportedly boarded a plane before the rebels reached the capital and fled to Russia.

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