The Syrian Interior Ministry has said the assassination of a Shiite cleric, seen as close to the government, marks a “dangerous escalation,” adding it is following with “great concern” what it described as “systematic” attempts in recent days to create instability, spread chaos, and undermine civil peace.
A source in Damascus said the cleric killed on Friday was considered a partner of the government in reshaping “the landscape of stability within the Shiite community” in Syria.
That role could have made him a target for cells linked to the “Iran axis,” which, according to circles close to the Syrian government, seek to exploit instability by recruiting local agents.
However, no official Syrian statement has confirmed this scenario, and the attack could also have been carried out by ISIS cells or other parties.
Farhan al-Mansour, imam at the Sayyida Zainab shrine south of Damascus, was killed in a car bomb on Friday, Syrian state television reported.
The Interior Ministry said the assassination fits into a “dangerous escalation” targeting religious and social figures in an attempt to incite sectarian strife.
In a statement issued late Friday, the Ministry said the “crime will not go unpunished,” adding that authorities have launched investigations to uncover the circumstances, identify those responsible, and take the necessary legal measures.
It reaffirmed its commitment to protecting citizens, preserving public security, and confronting any attempts to undermine stability.
A Damascus-based source said the Ministry’s statement appears to link the attack to recent operations dismantling “terrorist” cells.
Wael Alwan, executive director of the Jusoor for Studies in Damascus, told Asharq Al-Awsat that most cells dismantled in recent months are linked to an axis connected to Iran, which “seeks to exploit chaos and recruit local agents, whether from former regime elements or newly recruited individuals.”
Alwan said many of these cells are tied to Hezbollah or Iraqi groups with local members, most of whom had links to the former regime. “They are trying to exploit chaos, because stability in Syria runs counter to Iran’s interests,” he said.
According to Alwan, al-Mansour was “fully aligned with the process of stability and social peace pursued by the Syrian government,” and had played a role in reshaping a “highly sensitive” aspect of stability concerning the Shiite community.
For that reason, he could have been targeted by cells linked to Iran or Hezbollah, although there is no confirmed information.
He added that the Interior Ministry’s framing of the incident may point to an axis in which Hezbollah remains the most influential actor in Syria.
Sheikh Hassan al-Mansour, from the village of al-Kubar in Deir Ezzor, had recently met Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and played a prominent role in promoting civil peace in the Sayyida Zainab area.
He had also rejected any Iranian or Iran-backed militia influence over the shrine or the Shiite religious establishment in Syria.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei strongly condemned the assassination.
Baghaei said on Saturday that such “terrorist acts” are part of “malicious conspiracies by the Zionist entity and the United States to fuel divisions and sow discord in regional countries,” according to Iran’s IRNA news agency.
He called on all parties to remain vigilant and act responsibly in confronting terrorism and extremism, while urging efforts to identify those responsible and strengthen regional cooperation to eradicate the roots of terrorism.
Since the fall of the Iran-backed government of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Syria’s Shiite minority, estimated at around 300,000 people and mainly concentrated in Damascus and parts of Homs, Aleppo, and Idlib provinces, has been living in a state of concern.
While the community has not faced retaliatory attacks like those targeting some Alawites on the Syrian coast or Druze in Sweida, a cleric, Rasoul Shahoud, was shot dead near Homs in July 2025.
The Sayyida Zainab area was also targeted by ISIS cells on Jan. 11, 2025, according to the Interior Ministry, which said at the time it had foiled a bombing attempt at the shrine and arrested those involved.
In April, the Ministry said it had dismantled several cells linked to Hezbollah in Damascus and Quneitra that were planning “sabotage” operations and rocket attacks.
It also announced it had thwarted an attempt to assassinate Syrian Jewish rabbi Michael Houri through an explosive device planted outside his home near the Mariamite Cathedral in Bab Touma, Damascus. It said it arrested five suspects, including a woman.
On April 27, Syrian authorities said they had dismantled a “terrorist cell” in Homs province and foiled a plot aimed at “targeting security and stability in the region.”
Two members of the cell were killed and a cache of weapons was seized.
