The mausoleum of Hafez al-Assad, the late father of ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, was set on fire in his hometown of Qardaha, as shown in AFP footage taken on Wednesday. Rebel fighters in fatigues, along with local young men, were seen watching the structure burn. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed that the rebels were responsible for the attack, which occurred in the Latakia region, the heartland of the Assad family’s Alawite community. The footage showed parts of the mausoleum engulfed in flames and damaged.
In a separate development, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressed the recent fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, stating that it would not weaken Iran’s influence or power in the region. Khamenei dismissed claims that a weakening of Syria’s “resistance” would diminish Iran’s strength, emphasizing that Iran remains strong and would continue to grow more powerful.
He also accused the United States and Israel of conspiring to bring down Assad, referring to the events in Syria as part of a joint U.S.-Israeli plot. Khamenei did not explicitly name any neighboring state but suggested that one had played an “obvious role” in the situation.
Khamenei acknowledged the complex foreign involvement in Syria, with forces from Turkey, the U.S., and Israel all pursuing different objectives. He lamented that Syria’s internal forces, particularly its army, had faltered in the face of these pressures, contrasting the situation with earlier in the war when Syria had more consistent motivations and resistance.
