Syria Suspends Iranian Flights Until January 22

The head of the Civil Aviation Organization announced that "Syria has suspended Iranian flights until January 22 (February 3)." Hossein Pourfarzaneh stated this on Tuesday, January 4, adding, "Of course, during the tensions in Syria, Iranian flights were operational with special permits." This official did not provide details about these "special permit" flights. It is unclear exactly when Iran suspended its flights to Syria. The head of Iran's Civil Aviation Organization noted that currently, flights to Syria will not be possible until January 22, after the New Year holidays, and that flights between Iran and Egypt are also still not operational. Hossein Pourfarzaneh further stated, "We are deprived of financing in Iran and cannot use global financial and insurance models, and if we do not take care of this industry, the aviation economy in Iran will collapse." Bashar al-Assad, the ousted president of Syria, fled the country earlier this month after rebel forces led by the Sunni Islamist group "Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham" launched a lightning attack on the capital, Damascus. Thousands of Iranians have left the country since "Tahrir al-Sham" took control of Syria, during which the Iranian embassy in Damascus was destroyed. Ahmad al-Shara, the new ruler of Syria and leader of "Tahrir al-Sham," has taken a stance against the role of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Syria in recent years. Tehran has supported Bashar al-Assad during the long civil war in Syria and has provided him with military advisors. The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that "there has been no direct contact" between the Islamic Republic and the new Syrian government. The ministry also warned Iranians to avoid traveling to Syria following recent developments. Two days earlier, on January 2, the British newspaper Times reported that the Islamic Republic of Iran, having lost Syria as a transit route for arms to its proxy groups in the region, is now seeking to send weapons directly from Beirut airport to Hezbollah, which is considered Iran's most important proxy. The Islamic Republic of Iran, which has been an ally of Syrian leaders for 46 years until the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government on December 9, has been accused internationally of sending weapons to its proxy groups in the region, particularly sending arms through Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Abu Muhammad al-Jolani: Syria is no longer a threat to neighbors or the West Ahmad al-Shara, the de facto leader of Syria whose forces caused Bashar al-Assad to flee to Russia, emphasized that Syria will no longer be a threat to its neighbors and will not allow any entity other than the government and the central army to possess weapons. The Israeli media outlet Walla News reported on Sunday, citing an Israeli security source, that Syria has closed its airspace to Iranian military and civilian flights. Ismail Baqai, the spokesperson for Iran's Foreign Ministry, remained silent during his press conference on Monday regarding this matter. His silence seemingly indicated tacit confirmation of this news. The Times in London noted that flights from Tehran International Airport to Beirut have resumed a few days prior but no longer pass through Syrian airspace. "A source familiar with ongoing discussions in Tehran" told the Times that Western countries are concerned that Iran, having lost Damascus as the main smuggling route for arms in the region, is now attempting to turn Beirut airport into its logistics center. In the last two months of the intense war against Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel has repeatedly turned back Iranian planes intending to land at Beirut airport, issuing serious warnings. Senior IRGC commander: "The American infiltrator killed Pourhashemi in Aleppo" Mohammad Jafar Asadi, deputy of the Khatam al-Anbia Headquarters and a senior commander of the IRGC who had previously been stationed in Syria, implicitly confirmed that the death of Kiomars Pourhashemi, a senior IRGC commander killed in Syria last month, was not on the battlefield. According to the website Entekhab, Mohammad Jafar Asadi said on Tuesday, January 3, in Tehran: "The infiltrator who martyred the Iranian commander was an American agent and also martyred Syrian army officers alongside the Iranian commander." Mohammad Jafar Asadi was responding to reports from a Turkish journalist who had recently stated that Kiomars Pourhashemi was killed by a senior Syrian army officer during a tense meeting in Aleppo. Forces of "Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham" led by Ahmad al-Shara, also known as Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, moved from Idlib province towards Aleppo on December 8 to capture the city and province of Aleppo. They achieved this goal the following day and subsequently moved towards Hama and Homs, eventually reaching Damascus on December 18 when Bashar al-Assad fled to a Russian base in the west of the country and was taken out of Syria on the same day. Secretary-General of Hezbollah: We have lost the route for securing military resources from Syria Iran has confirmed that Kiomars Pourhashemi was killed on December 8, the first day of the surprise attack on Bashar al-Assad's government and Iranian advisory forces in Syria. In the IRGC's official statement regarding Pourhashemi's death, it was claimed that he was killed in the capacity of a "defender of the shrine" by "takfiri terrorists," seemingly implying that he was killed in the battlefield. According to Al-Arabiya, citing Turkish journalist Yaqoub Aslan, in a meeting attended by Iranian advisors and Syrian army commanders in the "operations room" in Aleppo that day, Iranian advisors "put a lot of pressure on Syrian military commanders to issue a counterattack order to deal with the advance of rebel forces... and at the height of tensions, a Syrian general entered the operations room and shot Kiomars Pourhashemi." Mr. Aslan stated that the Syrian general had been in contact with opposition groups to Bashar al-Assad for two months prior and belonged to a tribe that had also abandoned loyalty to Assad. Mohammad Jafar Asadi told the Entekhab website that the claim of Pourhashemi being killed by the Syrian army general is an Israeli claim aimed at creating "problems between Iran and the Syrian army and Bashar al-Assad." This statement by the deputy of the Khatam al-Anbia Headquarters comes as the Syrian army has surrendered to Ahmad al-Shara's forces and Bashar al-Assad is no longer in Syria. Mohammad Jafar Asadi also stated that "the Syrian army had no food or water" and "the Russians have also been preoccupied for a long time due to Ukraine" (and could not do anything to save Assad's government). This senior IRGC commander also revealed that the force that Qassem Soleimani, the slain commander of the Quds Force, formed in Syria faced opposition within the Syrian army. He said the Syrian army did not show a favorable attitude towards this force and Bashar al-Assad did not understand why people should come to the field for his survival, but after numerous justifications (from Iran), a force of 120,000 was gradually gathered for popular defense... but the "National Defense Force of Syria" absorbed these soldiers and reduced that large investment from 120,000 to 20,000. In less than three weeks after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's government, military commanders and political officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran are gradually revealing more about the tense relations with Syria, while previously emphasizing "strategic relations" and goodwill with Damascus. The leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran also claimed on January 2 that Tehran essentially has "no proxy forces" in the region.