Britain Has Had 'Diplomatic Contact' with HTS, Announces 50 Million Pounds Syria Aid Package

This aerial picture shows destroyed buildings in the city of Harasta in Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus on December 15, 2024. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP)
This aerial picture shows destroyed buildings in the city of Harasta in Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus on December 15, 2024. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP)
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Britain Has Had 'Diplomatic Contact' with HTS, Announces 50 Million Pounds Syria Aid Package

This aerial picture shows destroyed buildings in the city of Harasta in Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus on December 15, 2024. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP)
This aerial picture shows destroyed buildings in the city of Harasta in Eastern Ghouta on the outskirts of Damascus on December 15, 2024. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP)

Britain has had diplomatic contact with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that swept Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power last week, British foreign minister David Lammy said on Sunday.

"HTS remains a proscribed organization, but we can have diplomatic contact and so we do have diplomatic contact as you would expect," Lammy told broadcasters.

"Using all the channels that we have available, and those are diplomatic and, of course, intelligence-led channels, we seek to deal with HTS where we have to."

On Saturday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States has had direct contact with HTS.

Also Sunday, Britain announced a 50 million pounds ($63 million) aid package to help vulnerable Syrians.

Millions of Syrians need humanitarian assistance after more than a decade of civil war that shattered much of the country's infrastructure and displaced large numbers of people. Some of the many who fled the country are returning from neighboring states.



Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Syrian Youth Will Resist Incoming Government

A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Syrian Youth Will Resist Incoming Government

A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)
A defaced portrait of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Damascus, Syria, 18 December 2024 (issued 22 December 2024). (EPA)

Iran's supreme leader on Sunday said that young Syrians will resist the new government emerging after the overthrow of President Bashar sl-Assad as he again accused the United States and Israel of sowing chaos in the country.

Iran had provided crucial support to Assad throughout Syria's nearly 14-year civil war, which erupted after he launched a violent crackdown on a popular uprising against his family's decades-long rule. Syria had long served as a key conduit for Iranian aid to Lebanon's armed group Hezbollah.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said in an address on Sunday that the “young Syrian has nothing to lose" and suffers from insecurity following Assad's fall.

“What can he do? He should stand with strong will against those who designed and those who implemented the insecurity," Khamenei said. “God willing, he will overcome them.”

He accused the United States and Israel of plotting against Assad's government in order to seize resources, saying: “Now they feel victory, the Americans, the Zionist regime and those who accompanied them.”

Iran and its armed proxies in the region have suffered a series of major setbacks over the past year, with Israel battering Hamas in Gaza and landing heavy blows on Hezbollah before they agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon last month.

Khamenei denied that such groups were proxies of Iran, saying they fought because of their own beliefs and that Tehran did not depend on them. “If one day we plan to take action, we do not need proxy force,” he said.