Iran says to \u2018firmly support\u2019 Damascus after rebel attacks
\n TEHRAN\/ BEIRUT
\nSyria\u2019s second city of Aleppo is no longer under the control of President Bashar al-Assad\u2019s government, for the first time since the country\u2019s conflict began, a war monitor said Sunday.
\nHayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied rebel factions \u201ccontrol Aleppo city, except the neighbourhoods controlled by the Kurdish forces. For the first time since the conflict started in 2012, Aleppo city is out of control of Syrian regime forces,\u201d Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP.
\nMeanwhile, Iran\u2019s top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said Sunday he will leave Tehran for Damascus to deliver a message of support for Syria\u2019s government and armed forces, state media said, after a lighting advance by rebels.
\nTehran has been a staunch ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the civil war that broke out in 2011. Iran maintains it does not have combat troops in Syria, only officers who provide military advice and training.
\nIran-backed Hezbollah, of Lebanon, has for years fought on the side of the Syrian government.
\n\u201cI am going to Damascus to convey the message of the Islamic Republic to the Syrian government,\u201d Araghchi said, emphasising Tehran will \u201cfirmly support the Syrian government and army,\u201d the IRNA state news agency reported.
\nRebels on Saturday seized Aleppo\u2019s airport and dozens of nearby towns after overrunning most of Syria\u2019s second city Aleppo, a war monitor said.
\nSyria\u2019s army confirmed that the rebels had entered \u201clarge parts\u201d of the city of around two million people and said \u201cdozens of men from our armed forces were killed\u201d.
\nAraghchi again called the surprise rebel offensive a plot by the United States and Israel.
\n\u201cThe Syrian army will once again win over these terrorist groups as in the past,\u201d the foreign minister added.
\nAn Iranian news agency reported earlier that a general in Iran\u2019s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was killed in Syria on Thursday during the fighting. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Iran says to \u2018firmly support\u2019 Damascus after rebel attacks TEHRAN\/ BEIRUT Syria\u2019s second city of Aleppo is no longer under the control of President Bashar al-Assad\u2019s government, for the first time since the country\u2019s conflict began, a war monitor said Sunday. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied rebel factions \u201ccontrol Aleppo city, except the neighbourhoods controlled […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447070,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-447051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n