Controversial remarks by the head of Assad’s media office about the fall of the former Syrian government about the fall of the former Syrian government.
According to Russia Today, Kamel Saqr, the head of the media office of the former Syrian president, said in an interview with the Al-Mazij podcast, affiliated with Al-Arabiya TV: Bashar Assad had asked Moscow for permission to use the Hmeimim air base to transport Iranian military aid to the Syrian army. But Russia did not respond positively to this request!
He claimed: The Iranians had informed Bashar Assad that they had not received any approval for the transfer of Iranian planes to the Hmeimim base and to pass through the skies of Iraq and Syria.
Saqr added: Iran had announced that after raising this issue with Moscow regarding Assad’s request to issue a permit for Iranian planes to land at the Hmeimim base, it had not received a response.
He claimed: Bashar Assad’s recent visit to Russia, which took place before the fall of Damascus (December 8), did not yield any results, and Assad was unable to establish direct contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin for three days.
Saqr claimed that Iran had informed Assad that the United States had threatened to shoot down any Iranian plane that crossed Iraqi airspace and headed for the Hmeimim air base.
The director of Assad’s media office said that the military and economic situation in Syria was very dire before the fall of Aleppo, and Assad’s army was unable to participate in the fighting.
Saqr added that the Iraqi side had told the Assad government on December 6 (two days before the fall of Damascus) that Turkey had rejected any talks with Assad under the current circumstances.
He said that Assad refused to talk to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This decision was met with efforts by Alexander Lavrentiev, Russia’s special representative in Syria, to persuade Assad to meet with Erdogan, but Assad continued to insist on holding meetings between the two countries’ security officials and even refused to hold a meeting at the level of the two countries’ foreign ministers.