The nation of Syria has fallen into the hands of a new rebel group and the leader of that group, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, has a message – Iran is next.
The rebel group known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) arrived victoriously in Damascus on Sunday and the leader could have given his victory speech anywhere – the presidential palace, the ancient town square, a government building – but instead al-Jolani chose the Umayyad Mosque, the place where Muslims destroyed the church that was believed to have kept the head of John the Baptist.
al-Jolani started his speech while standing elevated among his followers in the mosque. “[Syrian President Assad],” he said, “left Syria with free reign for the Iranians. He spread sectarianism within it. He spread corruption with in it.”
“This victory, my brothers, is a new history for the region,” he said, in a direct challenge to Iran.
From the beginning of his first victory speech, al-Jolani left little doubt he was blaming the problems of Syria, not just on the former president of Syria, but on the Iranian regime. He told his crowd of supporters that this was a new day for the region, possibly signaling that Iran’s day of having power are over and might eventually be next to fall.
The crowd broke into chants of “Allahu akbar” and “Here I am O’ Allah.”
His message to Iran goes directly to the Ayatollah leaders, that their meddling is over, their support for proxy Hezbollah in Syria is over, and gone too are the days they could secretly store their weapons, drones, and soldiers.
This is a huge blow to Iran.
It is not yet known exactly how al-Jolani’s rule will play out with Christians in the area, but his connection with ISIS and their rule in Syria and Iraq does not paint a promising future.
