Iranian embassy stormed in Damascus

DUBAI: Iran’s embassy in the Syrian capital was stormed by rebels on Sunday following their capture of Damascus and the fall of Iran-allied Bashar al-Assad, Iranian state TV reported.

“It is said that the Iranian embassy was stormed alongside nearby stores by an armed group different from the group now controlling [most of] Syria,” Iranian state TV said, referring to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which spearheaded the rebel advances across western Syria.

Footage from inside the embassy’s premises was shared by Saudi Arabia’s al-Arabiya channel, showing that assailants had rummaged through furniture and documents inside the building and damaged some windows.

Reuters could not verify the videos.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Sunday that Iranian diplomats had vacated the embassy in the early morning, prior to any assault.

Iran’s state TV said HTS had guaranteed there would be no disturbance to the Sayeda Zeinab and Sayeda Ruqqaya shrines in Damascus.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Sunday that all Iranian servants of the shrines returned to Iran prior to the capture of Damascus by rebels.

Sayeda Zeinab – the granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammad – is venerated by Shi’ites and her shrine is a site of mass pilgrimage for Shi’ites from across the world. It has also been a magnet for Shi’ite militiamen in Syria.

HTS was formerly an al-Qaeda affiliate known as the Nusra Front until its leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani, severed ties with the global jihadist movement in 2016.

Read More: Assad’s whereabouts unknown, army officers say he boarded flight

Syria’s Bashar al-Assad boarded a plane in Damascus for an unknown destination early on Sunday, two senior army officers said, as rebels seized the city and ousted him from power after 24 years as president.

Assad has not spoken in public since the sudden rebel advance a week ago, when insurgents seized northern Aleppo in a surprise attack before marching into a succession of cities as frontlines crumbled.

His whereabouts now – and those of his wife Asma and their two children – remain unknown.

A Syrian Air plane took off from Damascus airport around the time the capital was reported to have been taken by rebels, according to data from the Flightradar website.

The aircraft initially flew towards Syria’s coastal region, a stronghold of Assad’s Alawite sect, but then made an abrupt U-turn and flew in the opposite direction for a few minutes before disappearing off the map.