BEIRUT: Opposition leader Ahmad Jarba says Syria is now being run by regime allies Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, with President Bashar Al Assad out of the picture.
In an interview with Saudi-owned newspaper Al Hayat published yesterday, Jarba said Syrian rebels had seized control of “at least half” of the country, 29 months into an anti-Assad uprising.
Assad is “a killer and a criminal, and... he has collapsed,” the National Coalition chief charged.
Assad “no longer runs Syria. The real rulers of Syria are the Iranian (elite) Revolutionary Guard... with the participation of (Lebanese Shiite) Hezbollah fighters,” Jarba said.
Tehran is Assad’s main regional backer, while Hezbollah has sent in fighters from Lebanon to help the army fight the anti-regime rebellion.
Jarba said that supplying the rebel Free Syrian Army with sophisticated weaponry would “change the course of the revolution.”
AFP
