Cairo, Dec. 9, (dpa/GNA) – Government around the world have reacted to the abrupt fall of the al-Assad family’s five-decade rule over Syria with a mixture of hope and trepidation, as the balance of power in the Middle East shifts.
Several Arab countries expressed support for Syria’s unity and territorial integrity after Islamist rebels declared president Bashar al-Assad’s ouster and seized control of Damascus early on Sunday.
Turkey, Iran, Russia and the United States all deployed forces in Syria after protests against al-Assad’s regime erupted into a multi-sided civil war in 2011. Various non-state factions continue to control different parts of the fragmented country.
Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, said it stands with Syria and supports its sovereignty.
Egypt “calls on all Syrian sides of all leanings to preserve the state resources and national institutions and give precedence to the country’s supreme interests,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.
In Jordan, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Syria must be protected from sliding towards chaos.”
“Jordan will offer all possible support for the brotherly Syrian people in their efforts for rebuilding their country, institutions and political system,” he said.
The Foreign Ministry of Qatar, a country that has long been an outspoken critic of al-Assad, also said it is necessary to preserve Syria’s national institutions and unity of the state to prevent it from “descending into chaos.”
“The state of Palestine and its people stand by the side of the brotherly Syrian people,” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said.
But all eyes were firmly on the governments of Iran and Russia, which were staunch backers of al-Assad. With his downfall, their influence in Syria and the wider Middle East could be weakened.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry said it hopes to maintain good relations with Syria despite the change in power.
“Bilateral relations with Syria have a long history and we hope that this will continue with wisdom and foresight,” the Foreign Ministry in Tehran said in a statement, adding that Iran would respect the Syrian people’s decision on their political future.
Above all, Tehran hopes for a quick end to the military tensions and an early dialogue between all political factions in the country, the Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.
According to unconfirmed reports, Tehran is already in contact with the Islamist alliance Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in order to facilitate a peaceful withdrawal of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards from Syria. Whether the HTS will comply with this demand is questionable.
On Sunday, rebel fighters stormed the Iranian embassy in Damascus and, according to Iranian media reports, vandalized it. However, all Iranian diplomats and their staff had already left the embassy before the attack, according to the Foreign Ministry in Tehran.
For Tehran, al-Assad was a strategically important ally within a self-declared front of resistance against arch-enemy Israel. Syria also served as a corridor for the supply of Iranian weapons to Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon, who in turn would attack Israel.
“The change of power in Syria could affect the further course of the resistance front against the Zionist regime in the short term, but definitely not stop it,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi.
The resistance against Israel is “an ideological mission and not a classic war” and will therefore continue, said the top diplomat in an interview with the state broadcaster IRIB late Sunday.
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued an appeal for all parties to refrain from the use of force.
Al-Assad had abandoned his post and left Syria, the ministry said, without providing any information on the location of its former ally. Russia was in contact with groups in Syria, it said.
Moscow had provided critical military support to al-Assad’s regime since 2015.
Russia maintains an airbase in Syria and a strategic naval base at Tartus, which provides access to the Mediterranean Sea. The ministry said the Russian military bases were not under threat but were in a state of heightened alert.
The ministry claimed that al-Assad had ordered a peaceful transfer of power.
“Russia has not participated in these negotiations. At the same time we appeal to all those involved to refrain from the use of force and to resolve all questions relating to state leadership by political means,” it said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the seismic change in Syria presented an “opportunity.”
Israel has frequently hit Iranian-linked military targets in Syria in order to prevent arch-enemy Iran from expanding its influence.
Netanyahu said Israel is interested in “neighbourly relations” with Syria, but also in making sure “that no hostile force embeds itself right next to the border of Israel.”
During a visit to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights accompanied by Defence Minister Israel Katz, Netanyahu said this “historic day” for the Middle East was a “direct result of our forceful action against Hezbollah and Iran.
This had triggered a “chain reaction” in the Middle East, Netanyahu said.
In Europe, the French and German governments welcomed al-Assad’s overthrow. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called it “good news” – but that order needed to be restored and the rights of minorities respected.
UN Secretary General António Guterres said he believed there was now a “historic opportunity to build a stable and peaceful future” for Syria.
GNA