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Iranian 'Rumors' Speak of Attempt to Assassinate Assad

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad attends Eid al-Fitr prayers at al-Hassan mosque in Damascus, Syria May 2, 2022. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad attends Eid al-Fitr prayers at al-Hassan mosque in Damascus, Syria May 2, 2022. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
    Damascus, Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat
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Iranian 'Rumors' Speak of Attempt to Assassinate Assad

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad attends Eid al-Fitr prayers at al-Hassan mosque in Damascus, Syria May 2, 2022. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad attends Eid al-Fitr prayers at al-Hassan mosque in Damascus, Syria May 2, 2022. (SANA/Handout via Reuters)

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was the victim of a failed assassination attempt on Monday, claimed Iranian sources.

The failed attack allegedly took place as he arrived at the al-Hassan mosque in Damascus to perform Eid al-Fitr prayers.

Iran's Mehr and Isna state agencies based their claims on a news alert by Lebanon's al-Manar television, the mouthpiece of the Hezbollah party.

Iran's Tabnak news site reported that Assad had greeted citizens at the mosque and that he appeared in good health.

The Iranian sources said Syrian security sources did not address the details of the attempt on Assad's life.

It noted that he appeared well in the footage that showed him upon his arrival at the mosque and as he greeted the people before the prayer.

Isna later said that al-Manar did not report further about the attack, while Syria's state news agency SANA made no mention of it.

Mehr reported that Syria's al-Watan daily had dismissed the claims of an assassination as a "rumor".

It accused opponents of the regime of manipulating the image that accompanied the news of the attack.

Iran's Tasnim agency noted that al-Manar did not publish a news report about the assassination, while the Syrian opposition did.

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Sudan's RSF Conducts First Drone Attack on Port Sudan

Smoke rises from the airport of Port Sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke rises from the airport of Port Sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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Sudan's RSF Conducts First Drone Attack on Port Sudan

Smoke rises from the airport of Port Sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Smoke rises from the airport of Port Sudan following reported attacks early on May 4, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) carried out a drone attack on a military air base and other facilities in the vicinity of Port Sudan Airport, a Sudanese army spokesperson said on Sunday, in the first RSF attack to reach the eastern port city.
No casualties were reported from the attacks, the spokesperson said.
The RSF has not commented on the incident, Reuters said.
The RSF has targeted power stations in army-controlled locations in central and northern Sudan for the past several months but the strikes had not inflicted heavy casualties.
The drone attack on Port Sudan indicates a major shift in the two-year conflict between the Sudanese army and the RSF. The eastern regions, which shelter a large number of displaced people, had so far avoided bombardment.
The army has responded by beefing up its deployment around vital facilities in Port Sudan and has closed roads leading to the presidential palace and army command.
Port Sudan, home to the country's primary airport, army headquarters and a seaport, has been perceived as the safest place in the war-ravaged nation.
In March, the army ousted the RSF from its last footholds in Khartoum, Sudan's capital, but the paramilitary RSF holds some areas in Omdurman, directly across the Nile River, and has consolidated its position in west Sudan, splitting the nation into rival zones.
The conflict between the army and the RSF has unleashed waves of ethnic violence and created what the United Nations calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with several areas plunged into famine.
The war erupted in April 2023 amid a power struggle between the army and RSF ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule. It ruined much of Khartoum, uprooted more than 12 million Sudanese from their homes and left about half of the 50 million population suffering from acute hunger.
Overall deaths are hard to estimate but a study published last year said the toll may have reached 61,000 in Khartoum state alone in the first 14 months of the conflict.