Syria’s New Foreign Minister Tells Iran Not to Spread Chaos in Syria

A Syrian boy walks past a defaced portrait of the toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the town of Yafour near Damascus on December 23, 2024. (AFP)
A Syrian boy walks past a defaced portrait of the toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the town of Yafour near Damascus on December 23, 2024. (AFP)
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Syria’s New Foreign Minister Tells Iran Not to Spread Chaos in Syria

A Syrian boy walks past a defaced portrait of the toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the town of Yafour near Damascus on December 23, 2024. (AFP)
A Syrian boy walks past a defaced portrait of the toppled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in the town of Yafour near Damascus on December 23, 2024. (AFP)

Syria's newly appointed foreign minister, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, told Iran on Tuesday not to spread chaos in Syria but to respect the Syrian people's will and the country's sovereignty.

In a post on X, Shibani said: "Iran must respect the will of the Syrian people and the country's sovereignty and security. We warn them from spreading chaos in Syria and we hold them accountable for the repercussions of the latest remarks."

He did not specify the remarks he was referring to.

In a televised speech on Sunday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called on Syrian youth to "stand with firm determination against those who have orchestrated and brought about this insecurity".

"We predict that a strong and honorable group will also emerge in Syria because today Syrian youth have nothing to lose. Their schools, universities, homes, and streets are unsafe," Khamenei said.

He added: "Therefore, they must stand firmly with determination against the planners and executors of insecurity and prevail over them."

Syrian opposition fighters ousted President Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8 after a 13-year civil war.

Iran spent billions of dollars propping up Assad during the war and deployed its Revolutionary Guards to Syria to keep its ally in power.

Assad's overthrow is widely seen as a major blow to the Iran-led "Axis of Resistance" political and military alliance that opposes Israeli and US influence in the Middle East.



Erdogan: Kurdish Militia in Syria Will Be Buried If They Do Not Lay Down Arms

A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
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Erdogan: Kurdish Militia in Syria Will Be Buried If They Do Not Lay Down Arms

A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)
A Syrian Kurd waves the flag of YPG (People's Protection Units) near Qamishli's airport in northeastern Syria on December 8, 2024, following the fall of the capital Damascus to anti-government fighters. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP)

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Kurdish fighters in Syria will either lay down their weapons or "be buried", amid hostilities between Türkiye-backed Syrian fighters and the militants since the fall of Bashar al-Assad this month.
Following Assad's departure, Ankara has repeatedly insisted that the Kurdish YPG group must disband, asserting that the group has no place in Syria's future. The change in Syria's leadership has left the country's main Kurdish factions on the back foot.
"The separatist murderers will either bid farewell to their weapons, or they will be buried in Syrian lands along with their weapons," Erdogan told lawmakers from his ruling AK Party in parliament.
"We will eradicate the terrorist organization that is trying to weave a wall of blood between us and our Kurdish siblings," he added.
Türkiye views the Kurdish YPG group- the main component of the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militia, which has waged an insurgency against the Turkish state since 1984.
The PKK is designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union. Ankara has repeatedly called on its NATO ally Washington and others to stop supporting the YPG.
Earlier, Türkiye's defense ministry said the armed forces had killed 21 YPG-PKK militants in northern Syria and Iraq.
In a Reuters interview last week, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi acknowledged the presence of PKK fighters in Syria for the first time, saying they had helped battle ISIS and would return home if a total ceasefire was agreed with Türkiye, a core demand from Ankara.
He denied any organizational ties with the PKK.
Erdogan also said Türkiye would soon open its consulate in Aleppo, and added Ankara expected an increase in traffic at its borders in the summer of next year, as some of the millions of Syrian migrants it hosts begin returning.