Iran Financial News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. WASHINGTON—The unexpectedly rapid downfall of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria has turned the country’s future from a back-burner issue to a suddenly high stakes concern for the departing Biden administration—and almost certainly for Donald Trump. U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria marks the eclipse of Iran’s self-styled axis of resistance in the Middle East. While the successful advance of the Syrian Sunni insurgents into Damascus seemed sudden, it didn’t happen overnight.

Iran's theocratic government, it keeps getting worse. Its decades-long strategy of building an «Axis of Resistance» supporting militant groups and proxies around the region is falling apart. First came the crushing Israeli campaign in Gaza triggered by the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Iranian-backed Hamas. That war spawned another in Lebanon, where Israel has mauled Iran's most powerful ally, Hezbollah, even as Israel has launched successful airstrikes openly inside of Iran for the first time. And now Iran's longtime stalwart ally and client in Syria, President Bashar Assad, is gone. As dawn broke Sunday, rebel forces completed a lightning offensive by seizing the ancient capital of Damascus and tearing down symbols of more than 50 years of Assad's rule over the Mideast crossroads.

Bashar al-Assad to flee the country and impose a new revision of the strategic map in the Middle East. The Syrian strongman had for nearly 14 years held off an uprising that many believed had been exhausted. But his downfall followed a series of battlefield convulsions for other allies of Iran. Israel has all but decapitated the Hezbollah leadership in Lebanon since September, while the killing of Hamas figureheads has dealt major blows to Assad's key backer Tehran.

Assad regime that brutalised, tortured and killed thousands of innocent Syrians over the past half a century is a historic opportunity for the people of the country, outgoing US President Joe Biden said on Sunday. Biden spoke at the White House hours after rebel groups took over the country following more than a dozen years of violent civil war and decades of leadership by Bashar Assad and his family. «After 13 years of civil war in Syria and more than half a century of brutal authoritarian rule by Bashar Assad and his father before him, rebel forces have forced Assad to resign his office and flee the country. We're not sure where he is, but there's word that he's in Moscow. At long last, the Assad regime has fallen,» Biden said. «This regime brutalised, tortured and killed hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrians. The fall of the regime is a fundamental act of justice. It's a moment of historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria to build a better future for their proud country,» he said.

India registered a commanding 35-22 win over Singapore at the Asian Women's Handball Championship in Delhi on Sunday, opening up the opportunity for their best-ever finish in the tournament. India, who have never finished above sixth, will face China on Tuesday in the 5th/6th place playoff match. Charged by the backing of their fans, India opened the placement match against Singapore with high energy, leading 9-6 midway through the first half, courtesy Menika and Bhawana Sharma's consistent scoring. At the other end, captain Diksha Kumari and goalkeeper Nina Shil, who made key saves including a penalty, kept Singapore at bay.

Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the militant leader whose stunning insurgency toppled Syria's President Bashar Assad, has spent years working to remake his public image, renouncing longtime ties to al-Qaida and depicting himself as a champion of pluralism and tolerance. In recent days, the insurgency even dropped his nom de guerre and began referring to him by his real name, Ahmad al-Sharaa. The extent of that transformation from jihadi extremist to would-be state builder is now put to the test. Insurgents control capital Damascus, Assad has fled into hiding, and for the first time after 50 years of his family's iron hand, it is an open question how Syria will be governed. Syria is home to multiple ethnic and religious communities, often pitted against each other by Assad's state and years of war. Many of them fear the possibility Sunni Islamist extremists will take over. The country is also fragmented among disparate armed factions, and foreign powers from Russia and Iran to the United States, Turkey and Israel all have their hands in the mix.

Bashar al-Assad’s long-standing reign. The capture of the Syrian capital comes after rebels seized northern Aleppo last week and rapidly advanced southwards, overrunning key cities like Homs. The takeover severed Damascus from the Alawite-dominated coastal regions, long considered Assad’s stronghold. Two senior Syrian military officials confirmed that Assad fled the capital aboard a plane on Sunday. Flightradar24 data showed a Syrian Air aircraft departing Damascus but abruptly vanishing from radar. Speculation abounds about whether the plane’s transponder was deactivated or if it was downed. “It disappeared off the radar, possibly the transponder was switched off, but I believe the bigger probability is that the aircraft was taken down,” a source stated, speaking anonymously.

Donald Trump's win in last month's US election, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to congratulate the president-elect: «History's greatest comeback!» he gushed. If Trump's staunchly pro-Israel first term and his nominations for top administration positions are any indication, Netanyahu's glee is justified. But much has transpired since Trump left office in early 2021. The wars in the Middle East, the lofty ambitions of Netanyahu's far-right governing coalition and Netanyahu's personal relationship with him could dampen that enthusiasm and complicate what on the surface looks like a seamless alliance. «For Bibi, this is his dream. He wanted this,» said Mazal Mualem, an Israeli journalist and Netanyahu biographer, referring to the Israeli leader by his nickname. «For Bibi, it's too good to be true.»

Bashar al-Assad oversaw a merciless crackdown on a pro-democracy revolt that morphed into one of the bloodiest wars of the century. On Sunday, as rebels entered the capital, a Syrian war monitor said he had left the country, in what could spell the end not just of his 24-year rule but the downfall of his clan's five-decade reign. After facing down nationwide protests demanding his ouster and an armed rebellion that he all but crushed, Assad had — until a lightning rebel offensive — taken back control of much of Syria in the civil war that began in 2011.

Catch LIVE updates of Syrian Crisis with MintSyria War Live: X account ‘War Monitor’ hailed ‘first day in the next era of the Levant’ after rpeorts of Assad fleeing and his decade long regime falling into the hands of rebels emerged. Syria War Live: Syrian rebels say it is prohibited to go near public institutions that will remain under the supervision of the ‘former PM’, reports War MonitorSyria War Live: People celebrate in joy as military informs that the Assad regime has felled.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. SYRIANS HAVE seen these scenes before: their countrymen tearing down posters of Bashar al-Assad, overrunning his army bases, storming the jails where he keeps political prisoners. But that was ten years ago and more, and they had not expected to see them again, certainly not now, and not with this air of finality.

Donald Trump said on Saturday that the US military should stay out of the escalating conflict in Syria as a shock opposition offensive closes in on the capital, declaring in a social media post, «THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT.» With world leaders watching the rapid rebel advance against Syria's Russian-and Iranian-backed president, Bashar Assad, President Joe Biden's national security adviser separately stressed that the Biden administration had no intention of intervening. «The United States is not going to… militarily dive into the middle of a Syrian civil war,» Jake Sullivan told an audience in California. He said the US would keep acting as necessary to keep the Islamic State — a violently anti-Western extremist group not known to be involved in the offensive but with sleeper cells in Syria's deserts — from exploiting openings presented by the fighting.

Bashar Assad was in serious trouble was 10 years ago, at the height of the country's civil war, when his forces lost control over parts of the largest city, Aleppo, and his opponents were closing in on the capital, Damascus. Back then, he was rescued by his chief international backer, Russia, and longtime regional ally Iran, which along with Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah militia helped Assad's forces retake Aleppo, tipping the war firmly in his favor. Now, as insurgents pursue a shock offensive that quickly captured not just Aleppo, but other key cities across the country's northwest and in the south, reaching the suburbs of the capital Damascus, the Syrian leader appears to be largely on his own.

participative diplomacy, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said that the general sort of the needle is moving more towards the reality of a negotiation than the continuation of the Russia-Ukraine war. Jaishankar also highlighted the impact of the conflict situations in the Gulf and the Mediterranean region on countries all over, including India, in terms of cost escalation for oil, fertilisers and shipping etc. Visiting Doha to participate in the Doha Forum at the invitation of Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of State of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman and was addressing a panel along with him and Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide. Answering a question about the situation in the Gulf region and the latest in Syria, the External Affairs Minister highlighted how there is a widening of conflict and gave examples of Israel-Iran firing at each other; said how the situation in Red Sea is impacting shipping for Asia, and then, referred to a previous session of journalists who said even when the job is tough, journalists need to do it.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. A fast-advancing rebel offensive in Syria threatens to dislodge Russia from a strategic linchpin that Moscow has used for a decade to project power in the Middle East, in the Mediterranean and into the African continent. It also challenges Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to portray Moscow as a flag bearer for an alternative global order to rival Western liberalism, and his defense of the Syrian regime as evidence of successful pushback against American dominance in the region.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The crew of the Grand Sunny cargo ship has been stuck at sea for a year, unpaid and often hungry, after the vessel’s mysterious owner stopped paying the bills. The fate of the 11 men on board the Grand Sunny off the coast of China is increasingly common in the global shipping industry.

missiles and drones to Syria and increase the number of its military advisers there to support President Bashar al-Assad in his battle against rebels, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Friday. «It is likely that Tehran will need to send military equipment, missiles and drones to Syria… Tehran has taken all necessary steps to increase number of its military advisers in Syria and deploy forces,» the official said on condition of anonymity. «Now, Tehran is providing intelligence and satellite support to Syria.» For Iran, Assad is a crucial ally, part of its «Axis of Resistance» to Israel and U.S. influence in the Middle East.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Islamist rebels launched a large-scale attack on Syrian government forces, causing the largest shift in the balance of power since 2020 in Syria, where more than a decade of war has taken place. Battling Iran- and Russian-backed regime forces, the rebels in a lightning offensive captured Aleppo, which was Syria’s largest city before the war, and then advanced south to the strategic and symbolically important city of Hama.

International North South Transportation Corridor (INSTC) that provides India with the shortest route to trade with Russia and Europe. The Armenian Parliament on Wednesday approved a $200 million loan from the Eurasian Stabilization and Development Fund to build an 8.6 km Kajaran tunnel in Syunik (bordering Iran) as part of efforts to join INSTC, ET has learnt. Armenia is also in talks to join Iran’s Chabahar Port as it seeks access to India and other Asian nations. The South Caucasian country is also hoping for early linkages between the INSTC and the Chabahar Port for seamless connectivity.

Israeli bombardment, while behind the scenes, the United States and Gulf countries courted him diplomatically. It was a secretive, two-pronged approach meant to pressure Syrian President Bashar Assad to abandon his most important regional alliance with Hezbollah and Iran. The overtures to Assad were the product of what Israel and its allies saw as a rare but risky opportunity: With Iran's regional network fracturing under Israeli attack, they hoped to force Iran's most important partner out of the alliance, according to former U.S. officials, two European diplomats and four Israeli officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. Now, those regional ambitions may be derailed by a far smaller and long-discounted force: Resurgent rebels have launched a surprisingly successful attack in Syria, exploiting in part the strain Israel has put on the alliance that helped Assad maintain power through more than a decade of uprising and civil war. In a matter of days, the rebels seized most of the country's large city of Aleppo, and challenged Assad's grip on the country's northwest.