Regime Official Retracts Statements on ‘Punishing’ Returning Syrian Refugees

A view shows damaged buildings in Deir al-Zour, eastern Syria February 19, 2014. (Reuters)
A view shows damaged buildings in Deir al-Zour, eastern Syria February 19, 2014. (Reuters)
TT
20

Regime Official Retracts Statements on ‘Punishing’ Returning Syrian Refugees

A view shows damaged buildings in Deir al-Zour, eastern Syria February 19, 2014. (Reuters)
A view shows damaged buildings in Deir al-Zour, eastern Syria February 19, 2014. (Reuters)

After a wave of condemnation and criticism over his threat to Syrian refugees seeking to return to their homeland, Syrian regime official Issam Zahreddine retracted his statements on Tuesday.

Zahreddine, who is commander of the republican guard in Deir al-Zour, said that he “obeys the orders” of regime head Bashar Assad.

He also said that the “noble” returning Syrians will be “welcomed back into the heart of the nation.”

His statements were made in a voice recording that was addressed to the “Syrian people, who have persevered, resisted and triumphed.”

Earlier this week, Zahreddine had threatened Syrian refugees seeking to return home, advising them against doing so.

“I urge you against coming back. Even if the state forgives you, we will not forget or forgive,” he said during a televised statement.

In his retraction, Zahereddine said that his statements were manipulated by those seeking to create instability.

Opposition figures meanwhile accuse the regime official of “being responsible for several massacres committed against civilians in several Syrian regions.”

Months ago, he had published on his personal media accounts photographs of himself standing next human corpses in Deir al-Zour, they added.

He had claimed that the bodies were of members of the ISIS terrorist group, added the opposition.



Nasrallah’s Bodyguard Killed in Israeli Airstrike on Iran, Hezbollah Says

A supporter of Hezbollah carries a picture of Hezbollah's late leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against the Israeli attack on Iran, organized by Hezbollah following Friday prayer in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, 20 June 2025. (EPA)
A supporter of Hezbollah carries a picture of Hezbollah's late leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against the Israeli attack on Iran, organized by Hezbollah following Friday prayer in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, 20 June 2025. (EPA)
TT
20

Nasrallah’s Bodyguard Killed in Israeli Airstrike on Iran, Hezbollah Says

A supporter of Hezbollah carries a picture of Hezbollah's late leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against the Israeli attack on Iran, organized by Hezbollah following Friday prayer in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, 20 June 2025. (EPA)
A supporter of Hezbollah carries a picture of Hezbollah's late leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against the Israeli attack on Iran, organized by Hezbollah following Friday prayer in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, 20 June 2025. (EPA)

The head of security to slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike while in Iran, a Hezbollah official said Saturday.

Abu Ali Khalil, better known as Abu Ali Jawad, was killed after he went to Iran from neighboring Iraq, the official said.

For many years, Abu Ali was seen behind Nasrallah during most of his public appearances.

After Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli airstrike in a Beirut suburb in September, his bodyguard was put in charge of his tomb in Beirut.

The Hezbollah official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the airstrike that killed Abu Ali occurred earlier Saturday.