Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran’s regime, once again vowed to reclaim Syria from Bashar al-Assad’s successors and encouraged the youth of Syria to stand against the new government.
On Sunday, December 22, Khamenei spoke of the “emergence of an honorable and strong force in Syria” opposing the country’s new rulers.
He emphasized, “The Syrian youth have nothing to lose. Their universities, schools, homes, and streets are unsafe. What should they do? They must stand with strength and determination against those who have designed and executed this insecurity.”
Earlier, on December 11, Khamenei had promised to reclaim Syria and implicitly referred to Turkey’s role, describing the fall of Bashar al-Assad as “the result of a joint American-Israeli plan.”
In his latest speech, Khamenei rejected the attribution of regional militias to Iran, saying, “They keep saying that Iran has lost its proxy forces in the region. This is another false claim; Iran does not have proxy forces.”
He stressed, “If one day we decide to act, we won’t need proxy forces.”
Khamenei added that groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Houthis “fight because their beliefs compel them to do so.”
These remarks come despite Khamenei’s repeated mentions in recent years of Iran’s “strategic depth” and “strategic influence.”
For instance, in December 2022, Khamenei referred to countries such as Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon as “Iran’s strategic depth.” In another speech, he stated that a pillar of national power is “to influence other nations and create strategic depth for the country.”
In 2019, during a meeting with IRGC commanders, Khamenei said, “Do not lose sight of this expansive vision of the geography of resistance; do not abandon this transnational perspective. We should not settle for just our region.”
Meanwhile, some Iranian regime officials have threatened that proxy forces will assist in suppressing protests in Iran.
For example, in 2018, Mousa Ghazanfarabadi, head of Tehran’s Revolutionary Courts, stated, “If we do not support the revolution, the Iraqi Hashd al-Shaabi, Afghan Fatemiyoun, Pakistani Zainabiyoun, and Yemeni Houthis will come and support the revolution.”
Similarly, in 2017, Qasem Soleimani, commander of the IRGC’s Quds Force, wrote to Khamenei about the end of ISIS in Syria, saying, “On behalf of all commanders and the thousands of Iranian, Iraqi, Syrian, Lebanese, Afghan, and Pakistani martyrs and veterans defending the shrine, I congratulate Your Excellency on this great and decisive victory.”
In recent days, various reports have emerged about the potential weakening of Iran’s proxy groups, particularly in Iraq and Lebanon.
For example, Naim Qassem, Deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah in Lebanon, stated that with Bashar al-Assad’s fall, the group has lost its route for securing military resources through Syria.
Referring to Syria, Khamenei said that the United States now “imagines it has achieved victory” and that “they have lost control of their tongues and are talking nonsense.”
He added, “One of the American figures said that anyone who riots in Iran, we will help them. Fools have smelled barbecue.”
These threats from Khamenei come at a time when the Iranian people are facing widespread poverty, and the regime is struggling even to provide electricity and energy for its citizens.
