Asma Assad: I Rejected the Offer to Flee Syria

Asma Assad, the wife of Syrian President Bashar Assad, stated in an interview with a Russian television network that she rejected an offer to leave and flee Syria in order to stand by her husband during the Syrian civil war. In this interview, which was published on the official website of the Syrian president on Tuesday, Asma Assad clarified that she was offered protection and financial security in exchange for her departure from Syria. She said, 'Yes, this opportunity was presented to me, and I was offered to leave Syria; I would rather say to flee from Syria.' Asma Assad did not specify who made this offer to her but emphasized, 'They were not looking to ensure my safety and that of my children; rather, they aimed to undermine the people's trust in their president.' Asma Assad, born and a citizen of Britain, married Bashar Assad in 2000. Before her marriage to the Syrian president, she worked as an investment analyst for JPMorgan. Previously, some Iranian officials had stated that Bashar Assad was offered to send his wife and family to Iran, but the Syrian president rejected this offer. Mahmoud Alavi, Iran's Minister of Intelligence, stated earlier this year that Bashar Assad rejected the proposal from Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to transfer his family to Iran. Alavi added in an interview with the Al-Mayadeen television network in Lebanon that Assad told Soleimani that his family was no different from other Syrian families and that they would remain in Damascus. He did not provide further details about when Soleimani's proposal was made or its relation to the conditions of the civil war in Syria. Previously, in November of last year, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, former Deputy Minister for Arab Affairs at Iran's Foreign Ministry, said that Iranian officials had suggested to Bashar Assad in 2013 that he send his family to Iran amid the ongoing crisis in the country, but he did not accept this offer. International organizations report that in nearly six years of the Syrian civil war, at least 300,000 people have been killed, and millions have been displaced from their homes.