Trump advisor Waltz says Israel sapped Iran, cut its regional 'tentacles'

Syria's Baath party announced Wednesday it was suspending work indefinitely, a few days after opposition forces toppled President Bashar al-Assad, ending more than half a century of the family and party's rule.

The Baath party central leadership has decided to "suspend party work and activity in all its forms... until further notice", a statement published on the website of the party's newspaper said.

It had earlier announced its intention to cooperate with the Syrian transitional government in a bid to "defend the unity of the country, land, people, institutions and capabilities".

"We have to give credit where credit's due, and that's Bibi Netanyahu in Israel," President-elect Donald Trump's pick for national security advisor Mike Waltz told Fox News on Wednesday, referring to the Israeli Prime Minister.

"(Israel has) taken down the tentacles of the octopus, so to speak: Hamas, Hezbollah, some of the militias in in Syria. Iran has been so weakened that it made Assad so weak that clearly the HTS, Turkey and others saw opportunity," he added, referring to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham radical Islamist group leading the Syrian rebels.

“Some individuals abroad, through Persian-language media, engage in such actions, which must be dealt with differently. However, no one inside the country should do this. If anyone, in their analysis or statements, speaks in a way that demoralizes the public, it is a crime and must be addressed,” Khamenei said on Wednesday.

Following Khamenei's remarks, Iran's Attorney General also urged media and online activists to avoid topics that disrupt public psychological security or spread fear.

"Given the sensitive domestic and regional conditions, the Attorney General’s Office calls on media and online activists to avoid discussing issues that disrupt the psychological security of society or cause fear about the current situation," the Attorney General's office said in a statement on Wednesday.

It also directed security agencies to monitor cyberspace and identify media outlets or individuals "spreading rumors or disturbing public psychological security", so they can be referred to the judiciary.

As images of brutality and prison abuses circulated online after Assad’s fall, Iran’s media cautiously critiqued him, with some even hinting at parallels with the Islamic Republic.

Iran's government spokesperson suggested on Tuesday that leaders who ignore public sentiment and refuse dialogue risk facing the same fate as Bashar al-Assad, while asserting that the current government does not engage in such practices.

"We believe we must speak with the people and act alongside them,” Fatemeh Mohajerani said during a press conference.

The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government has prompted rare admissions of setbacks from Iran’s hardline media, with an outlet linked to the IRGC acknowledging losses to Iran's military allies across the region.

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President Vladimir Putin is seeking explanations for why Russia’s intelligence service failed to identify the growing threat to Bashar al-Assad’s rule in time, Bloomberg wrote Wednesday, citing a source close to the Kremlin.

The outlet added that Russia persuaded Assad he could not defeat armed groups led by HTS and offered safe passage for him and his family if he left immediately, according to three sources familiar with the matter who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the situation.

The Kremlin announced Monday that Putin had granted Assad asylum.

Iran's presence in Syria was not intended for direct engagement in the war, as such involvement was not supported by public opinion, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday.

“Our presence in Syria and Iraq did not mean deploying divisions of our army and IRGC to fight in place of their armies, as such an approach is neither logical nor acceptable to public opinion,” Khamenei said.

He also expressed confidence that Syria would be reclaimed by what he described as the Syrian youth.

“The brave youth of Syria will rise up and, through resilience and even sacrifices, overcome this situation, just as the brave youth of Iraq, after the US occupation, managed to drive the enemy out of their homes,” he said.

Khamenei also said that Iranian intelligence had warned Assad about potential threats.

"I don’t know whether these reports reached the top officials or got lost somewhere in the middle. However, our intelligence officials had informed them back in September, October, and November,” Khamenei said.

Ensuring the security of Russia's military bases and diplomatic missions in Syria remains a top priority, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

"This is a very important question. Of course, everything necessary and possible is being done now to contact those who can provide security. And, of course, our military is also taking all necessary precautions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in response to a question about concerns over the security of Russian military bases in Syria, according to TASS news.

“Syria is presently grappling with significant turmoil,” Ahmad Vahidi, the Iranian former Interior Minister, said, emphasizing that “Israel has exploited the unfolding events to systematically target its infrastructure.”

He added, “While occasional challenges may emerge, the Axis of Resistance will remain steadfast and unshaken.”

Tehran refers to its backed armed groups in the region as the Axis of Resistance.

Russia transported Bashar al-Assad securely to Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told NBC News on Tuesday.

The Kremlin announced Monday that President Vladimir Putin had granted Assad asylum. When asked about the possibility of handing him over for trial, Ryabkov said, "Russia is not a party to the convention that established the International Criminal Court."

In his first public remarks since the overthrow of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, Iran’s ruler Ali Khamenei blamed the United States and Israel for conspiring to remove Tehran’s close ally from power.

Speaking on Wednesday to a group of followers, Khamenei said, “There should be no doubt that what has happened in Syria is the result of a joint American and Zionist plan.

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