Assad to Araghchi: Iranian Response to Israel ‘Was Strong’

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi in Damascus on Saturday. (EPA)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi in Damascus on Saturday. (EPA)
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Assad to Araghchi: Iranian Response to Israel ‘Was Strong’

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi in Damascus on Saturday. (EPA)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad shakes hands with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi in Damascus on Saturday. (EPA)

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi visited Damascus on Saturday, coinciding with an Israeli strike that targeted a car on the Homs-Hama road in northern rural Homs. Reports suggest that a prominent member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was killed in the attack.

Araghchi, along with his delegation, met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other top officials, including Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi Jalali and Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh.

According to a statement from the Syrian presidency, Assad praised Iran’s “strong response” to Israeli violations, stating it delivered a lesson to Tel Aviv and demonstrated the ability of the Axis of Resistance to counter Israel’s aggression. He also emphasized the strategic importance of the Syrian-Iranian relationship in facing regional challenges, further adding that Israel must cease its violent actions and return rightful territories to their owners.

Discussions between Assad and Araghchi focused on Israeli aggression in Lebanon and the need for regional support for the displaced Lebanese population.

The Iranian official reiterated his country’s commitment to supporting efforts for a ceasefire, particularly in Lebanon and Gaza, and stressed the importance of international coordination to halt the aggression. This follows earlier comments made by Araghchi in Beirut, where he pointed to Iran’s efforts to achieve a simultaneous ceasefire in both Lebanon and Gaza.

This was Araghchi’s first visit to Damascus since assuming office. Recently, analysts have highlighted growing differences between Iran and Syria on several issues, including Tehran’s limited economic and energy support for Damascus, which faces a severe economic crisis.

Furthermore, reports have suggested that Iran has reduced its military presence in Syria due to increased Israeli airstrikes targeting Iranian forces and commanders since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

During Araghchi’s visit, Syrian state media reported that air defenses intercepted hostile targets over western Homs, though details were not provided. Local sources reported the death of one person and the injury of three others in a drone strike on a car in the Homs area.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the attack, noting that it targeted one Syrian and two foreign nationals, including a commander.



Trump’s Middle East Envoy Meets Netanyahu amid Ceasefire Push

 President-elect Donald Trump listens as Steve Witkoff speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP)
President-elect Donald Trump listens as Steve Witkoff speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP)
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Trump’s Middle East Envoy Meets Netanyahu amid Ceasefire Push

 President-elect Donald Trump listens as Steve Witkoff speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP)
President-elect Donald Trump listens as Steve Witkoff speaks during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP)

US President-elect Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday amid a push to secure a ceasefire in Gaza, Netanyahu's office said.

After the meeting, Netanyahu dispatched a high-level delegation which included the head of the Israeli Mossad intelligence agency to Qatar in order to "advance" talks to return hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, a statement from Netanyahu's office said.

Earlier on Saturday, an Israeli official said some progress had been made in the indirect talks between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas, mediated by Egypt, Qatar and the United States, to reach a deal in Gaza.

The mediators are making renewed efforts to reach a deal to halt the fighting in the enclave and free the remaining Israeli hostages held there before Trump takes office on Jan. 20. A deal would also involve the release of some Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Families of Israeli hostages welcomed Netanyahu's decision to dispatch the officials, with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters describing it as a "historic opportunity."

Witkoff arrived in Doha on Friday and met the Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s foreign ministry said.

Egyptian and Qatari mediators received reassurances from Witkoff that the US would continue to work towards a fair deal to end the war soon, Egyptian security sources said, though he did not give any details.

Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed across its borders in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to Palestinian health officials, with much of the enclave laid to waste and gripped by a humanitarian crisis, with most of its population displaced.

On Saturday, the Palestinian civil emergency service said eight people were killed, including two women and two children, in an Israeli airstrike on a former school sheltering displaced families in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said the strike had targeted Hamas fighters who were operating at the school and that it had taken measures to reduce the risk of harm to civilians.

Later on Saturday, the Gaza Civil Emergency Service said five people were killed and several others were wounded in two Israeli strikes. One of the two strikes killed three people in a house near the Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City.

The Israeli military said it struck a Hamas fighter "in that area" at that approximate time.