S1/E42: Khamenei on Syria: Defiance in Defeat

Iran's Gambit

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei showed defiance in defeat in his first public statement in the wake of the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria. Indirectly, he accused the new rulers of Syria of being agents of the United States and Israel. Furthermore, he claimed Iran was willing, but incapable of airlifting troops to Syria due to U.S. and Israel closing the skies over Syria to Iranian airplanes. He further added that former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had not requested military assistance from Iran. Khamenei used many a minute talking of invulnerability of the Axis of Resistance, his term for what remains of Iran’s proxies, despite collapse of the Assad regime, but his final warnings against those, who try to “demoralize” the Iranian public prove what is evident for all to see: the Assad regime’s collapse was Iran’s defeat, and defeat of Iran’s proxy strategy.