Tehran to reopen embassy in Damascus, Iranian ambassador says

Shafaq News/ The Iranian embassy in Syria will resume its operations soon, roughly a week after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, one of Tehran’s key allies, Iran’s ambassador to Damascus announced.

Embassy staff had been relocated to Beirut for two to three days as a precaution to ensure their safety the ambassador Hossein Akbari said in a TV interview with an Iranian news channel on Sunday.

Akbari pointed out, “Syrian officials never imagined that the Syrian government would collapse at this rapid pace,” adding that even former Syrian government officials and those orchestrating events behind the scenes were caught off guard.

Referring to the chaos and division of Libya into two rival governments, he stressed that Syria would not become like Libya, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA.

Regarding the Iranian embassy, Akbari stated that before Damascus fell, unidentified individuals carried out widespread looting in the city, including at the Iranian embassy. However, he confirmed that no Iranian citizens were harmed and that there was no money at the embassy at the time.

Akbari further revealed that the embassy building in Damascus is currently being secured by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied factions.

"Israel does not want to see a strong government in Syria that could challenge the occupying regime," according to the ambassador. He also stressed that US policies in the region are also aligned with the interests of Israel.