IRGC commander insists allied groups are self-reliant in warfare

Iranian state media had previously attributed Kiumars Pourhashemi’s death to Assad's armed opposition forces.

On Sunday, December 22, the Chinese state-run CGTN's correspondent in Ankara reported, citing an Iranian security official, that Pourhashemi died after being shot by a Syrian officer during a meeting in a joint operations room in Aleppo.

According to the report by Yakup Aslan, the meeting included Iranian military advisors and Syrian army commanders and took place amid advances by rebel forces in the outskirts of Aleppo.

Earlier, on November 28, Iranian media had reported that Pourhashemi, also known as "Haj Hashem," was killed during attacks by Assad's opposition forces in Aleppo. The outlets referred to him as a senior advisor to Assad’s forces.

Aslan, a Turkish journalist whose reports are frequently cited by Turkish media, added in his report that IRGC commanders in the Aleppo operations room were pressuring Syrian army commanders to resist Assad's opponents and repel their attacks.

The report noted that IRGC commanders believed a counteroffensive against Assad’s opposition, supported by Russian airpower, was possible at the time. However, Syrian commanders hesitated to issue the necessary orders.

The Turkish journalist described the atmosphere in the Aleppo joint operations room as "tense." He added that during the meeting, "a Syrian general entered the room and opened fire," resulting in Pourhashemi’s death.

He characterized the incident as a reflection of "the deep collapse within the Syrian army" following the advances made by Assad’s opposition forces.

Armed opposition forces, in a surprise 11-day operation that began in Idlib and Aleppo, reached Damascus on December 9, bringing an end to five decades of Assad family rule in Syria.

Aslan quoted an Islamic Republic security official saying that the shooter who killed Pourhashemi belonged to a tribe that had withdrawn its support for Assad.

The official added that two months earlier, the Islamic Republic had provided the Syrian government with information and documents about the Syrian officer's connections to groups opposing Assad.

Tehran was one of Assad’s primary backers. Previously, two former members of Iran's parliament separately confirmed that the Iranian government spent at least $30 billion to keep Assad in power. By other estimates, Iran has spent upwards of $50 billion in the Syrian civil war.

On December 22, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed to reclaim Syria from Assad’s successors and urged the nation’s youth to resist the newly established government.

Observers view the recent developments in Syria as a blow to the Islamic Republic’s regional influence, believing that the end of Assad’s rule will shift the balance of power in the Middle East.

Barbara Leaf, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, emphasized on December 20, in response to an Iran International reporter's question, that the Islamic Republic should have no role in Syria’s future.

Speaking in a phone call with the Houthis’ top diplomat, Araghchi said the US’ Saturday air raids on Sana’a were part of a joint plan by the West and Israel “to destroy and weaken Islamic countries and dominate the region.”

The Iranian top diplomat praised “the resilience and honorable support of the Yemeni people for the oppressed people of Palestine,” referring to the Houthi rebels’ blockade of the Red Sea since November 2023 in solidarity with Hamas militants in Palestine.

“Despite all its crimes and aggressions, and its unlimited support from the US and certain other Western countries, Israel has failed to achieve its sinister goals,” Araghchi said.

"After we severely damaged the arms of the Iranian octopus, and it is at its weakest following the damage to the missile array and air defense - a window of opportunity has opened to overthrow the regime," Gamliel said.

"Now is the time to act together with the free world to replace the Iranian regime," she added in a post on her X account.

There is now a "real risk" that Iran will revise its position that "we're not going for a nuke," Sullivan told CNN.

"It's a risk we are trying to be vigilant about now. It's a risk that I'm personally briefing the incoming team on," Sullivan added.

Since May, top Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's adviser, Kamal Kharrazi, have warned that if Iran's nuclear installations are attacked, the Islamic Republic will shift its nuclear doctrine. So far, Tehran has been insisting that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful, in spite of having exceeded international limits on uranium enrichment and accelerating its nuclear program.

In October, 39 lawmakers called for changing the nuclear doctrine without mentioning an attack on nuclear facilities but citing tensions with Israel.

The calls for the pursuit of nuclear weapons have grown in Iran following the Israeli airstrikes destroying the Islamic Republic's air defense batteries.

"It's no wonder there are voices (in Iran) saying 'Hey, maybe we need to go for a nuclear weapon right now... Maybe we have to revisit our nuclear doctrine'," Sullivan told CNN, referring to the decrease in Tehran's "conventional capabilities" following Israeli air raids.

"The Israeli military believes that Iran — isolated after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime and the weakening of its main proxy group Hezbollah in Lebanon — may push ahead further with its nuclear program and develop a bomb as it scrambles to replace its deterrence," The Times of Israel reported earlier this month citing military officials.

Following the weakening of Iran's proxy groups in the Middle East and the dramatic fall of the Assad government in Syria, the IDF believes there is an opportunity to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities, and the Israeli Air Force has therefore continued to increase its readiness and preparations for such potential strikes in Iran, the report said.

"As we acted with force against the terrorist arms of Iran's axis of evil, so we will act against the Houthis," Benjamin Netanyahu said during a meeting of the Security Cabinet in the northern Command of the army on Sunday.

"Only in this case, we are not acting alone. The United States, as well as other countries, see the Houthis as a threat not only to international shipping, but to the international order. Therefore, we will act with force, determination, and sophistication," the Israeli prime minister added. "I tell you, even if it takes time, the result will be the same result – as with the other terrorist groups."

The United States launched airstrikes against Houthi positions in the Yemeni capital Sana'a on Saturday, hours after the Tehran-aligned rebels fired a missile hitting a civilian area in Israel.

The Iran-backed Houthis, who control much of Yemen, launched a blockade of the Red Sea in November last year on the orders of Iran's Supreme Leader, following the outbreak of the Gaza war, in allegiance with Hamas.

While they originally set out to target Israeli-linked vessels in a bid to force a ceasefire, it has since spanned global commercial shipping, with multiple vessels hit in strikes and dozens of international seamen taken hostage.