Tasnim – Iran’s former ambassador to Damascus highlighted the Syrian government’s recent victories against foreign-backed terrorists and said under the “new conditions”, even other warring parties acknowledge that they cannot seek regime change in the Arab country.  


“The way that the Syrian army, helped by its allies, defended against the terrorist groups, actually imposed new conditions on other Syrian players,” Mohammad Reza Raouf Sheibani told the Tasnim News Agency.

In the new situation, the Damascus government’s sovereignty will be stable and lasting and they (the opposition groups) should no longer seek regime change in Syria, he added.

“Almost all players admit that there is no longer any possibility of regime change in Syria and are now thinking of the next stage,” the former diplomat said, adding that the opposition groups are seeking to get what they could not get on the battlefield.

Therefore they are trying to reach their goals by imposing political pressures and changing political and international equations, Raouf Sheibani noted.

He went on to say that certainly, in the political arena, the Damascus government and its allies are able to protect what they managed to defend on the battlefields.

The remarks came as Syrian forces continue to reclaim much of southern parts of the country and are poised to soon launch an offensive in Idlib, one of the last remaining areas outside of Damascus’ control.

Encouraged by the Syrian Army’s gains and the somewhat improving economic conditions in the country, over 13,000 Syrian refugees have returned home so far this year from Lebanon alone, with thousands more also returning from other neighboring countries.

Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh (also known as ISIS or ISIL), currently fighting against the central government.

In the meantime, Iran has remained a close ally of Syria and supports its legitimate government in the face of foreign-backed militancy.