Gunmen attack Iran embassy in Damascus as Russia says Assad has left 'orders' to 'transfer power'

A group of unidentified gunmen stormed the Iranian embassy in Damascus on Sunday after Islamist rebels seized the city and toppled the regime of Bashar Assad, who the Russian Foreign Ministry says fled the country and left behind “instructions” for the transfer of power.

Iranian state television reported on the incident at the embassy, ​​saying they did not believe the gunmen were related to the rebel group that took over the city. Iran withdrew most of its officials and their families on Saturday, leaving only a handful of diplomats.

“It is said that the Iranian embassy was raided near the nearby shops by an armed group that is different from the current ruling party. [most of] Syria,” Iranian state TV said, referring to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which has been leading the rebels' recent advances.

Arab and Iranian media shared photos from inside the embassy premises, where the attackers ransacked furniture and documents inside the building and damaged some windows.

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Assad and his British-born wife, Asma al-Assad, fled Damascus with their three children this weekend, according to Syrian television reports. It is not known where they are going.

A video statement from a group of men on Syrian state television said Assad had been deposed and all prisoners had been freed.

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said early Sunday that he did not know where Assad was. He told Saudi television network Al-Arabiyya that they lost contact on Saturday night.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a Telegram post on Sunday that Assad had left Syria following talks with rebel groups, and that the longtime Syrian leader had left “instructions” for a “peaceful transfer of power.” The Russian ministry said the Kremlin was not directly involved in those talks.

TOPSHOT – A photo taken at the entrance of the Kweyris military base in the eastern part of Aleppo province on December 3, 2024 shows a photo of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the national flag at a garbage dump following the takeover. by rebel groups. (Photo by RAMI AL SAYED/AFP via Getty Images)

Crowds of Syrians gathered in central Damascus squares to celebrate the news of Assad's departure. Others were chanting slogans against Assad and blowing horns. In some places, fireworks were going off.

Syria has been in the grip of a bloody civil war for nearly 14 years as Islamist rebels have sought to topple the Assad regime. The apparent collapse of more than 50 years of the Assad family's rule over the Syrian Arab Republic is a major turning point in Middle Eastern politics.

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The overthrow of Assad in Syria presents another problem in the Middle East facing the Trump administration. (Getty Images)

Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the Islamist leader of HTS, who has a $10 million bounty on his head from the US, wants to present a distorted version of the radical Islamism that defined his years of fighting in Syria and Iraq against it. American soldiers. Al-Golani was arrested by US forces in the first decade of this century.

Syrian experts told Fox News Digital that HTS wants to impose a totalitarian Islamist regime on the people. Phillip Smyth, a group expert on Iran and Syria, who works for the Atlantic Council, told Fox News Digital, “HTS is a group that comes from Al-Qaeda and is connected to Turkey. creating a Taliban-esque society with a few tweaks.”

Syrian opposition forces remove the Syrian government flag from an official building in Salamiyah, east of Hama, Syria, Saturday December 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Al-Golani prevented his fighters from opening fire in the air on Damascus.

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“Government institutions will remain under the supervision of the prime minister until they are officially handed over,” he said in a statement published on his party's social media.

Fox News' Benjamin Weinthal and Bradford Betz and Reuters contributed to this report