- Donald Trump said Syrian President Bashar Assad has “fled his country.”
- It comes after rebel forces said they had seized control of the capital, Damascus.
- The apparent fall of Assad’s regime could have major global implications, especially for Russia and Iran.
Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday that Syrian President Bashar Assad has “fled his country.”
“Assad is gone,” Trump wrote. “His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer.”
It comes after anti-government forces announced early on Sunday morning that they had advanced into Damascus, Syria’s capital.
In a post on social media, rebel commander Hassan Abdul-Ghani said: “We declare Damascus free from the tyrant Bashar al-Assad.”
“Today 8-12-2024 Syria is officially free,” he added in a later post.
President Biden and his team are said to be “closely monitoring the extraordinary events in Syria and staying in constant touch with regional partners,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett wrote on X.
The rebel march on Damascus is part of a surprise offensive launched by a coalition of opposition forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which traces its origins to the Al Qaeda terrorist network.
The offensive, which began in late November, has already seen rebel forces take Aleppo, one of Syria’s largest cities, Hama, and the strategic city of Homs, which sits at an important crossroads linking Damascus to the coast.
Homs is the last major city on the road south to Damascus, and its fall would have effectively cut off the capital from the coastal stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect.
The apparent downfall of Assad’s government could have significant global implications, especially for Russia and Iran, two of Assad’s strongest allies.
For Moscow, which operates two major military facilities in the country — the Hmeimim airbase and the Tartus naval base — Syria has offered its forces crucial access to the Mediterranean Sea and a base to launch operations into Africa.
Losing access to these bases would scupper many of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans in the region, Zineb Riboua, a research fellow and program manager at the Hudson Institute’s Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East, wrote on X. “Without a strong Russian military base in Syria, all of Putin’s plans collapse.”
While Russia intervened to prop up Assad in 2015, its priorities have since shifted to the war in Ukraine, and it has appeared reluctant to divert any significant resources to help Assad this time around.
The Russian embassy in Syria on Friday advised Russian nationals to leave the country “in the light of the difficult military and political situation” there.
For Iran, Syria has been part of an important land corridor stretching from Tehran to Baghdad, Damascus, and Beirut, helping it support key regional proxies such as the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
But Tehran, too, has been distracted by its conflict with Israel, while Hezbollah has been left in disarray after Israel killed its longtime leader and wounded thousands of its fighters with exploding pagers and walkie-talkies.
“Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success,” Trump continued in his Truth Social post.
He also called for an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine and the beginning of negotiations, saying: “I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is waiting.”
