Sudden Withdrawal: Iran Withdraws its Forces and Diplomatic Mission from Syria Before Assad's Fall

Informed sources reported that Iran withdrew its diplomatic mission and its forces present in Syria two days before the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime, according to Agence France-Presse.

The agency quoted a former Syrian officer, who worked in one of the security headquarters of the Revolutionary Guard in Damascus, that the Iranian leadership summoned him on December 5, 2024, three days before the fall of the Assad regime, to the operations headquarters in the al-Mazza neighborhood in the capital because of an important order.

The officer added that the Iranian commander in charge of the group, who was known as "Hajj Abu Ibrahim," informed the Syrian officers and soldiers working under the command of the Iranians, who numbered about 20 people, that "as of today, there will be no presence of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Syria."

The Iranian official also asked the elements to burn and destroy sensitive documents before his eyes, and to remove all hard drives from computers, then they were informed that "everything is over, that they are no longer responsible for them, and that their civil identities will reach them after days."

The officer added: "It seemed like it was prepared in advance, but it was surprising to us. We knew that things were not going well, but not to this extent."

The officer and his colleagues received a month's salary in advance, before dispersing and returning to their homes in a state of shock. Two days later, the regime collapsed at dawn on December 8, and Assad fled.

Two former Syrian employees in the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus said that the consulate was completely evacuated on the evening of December 5, and left for Beirut, while the Syrian employees were informed to stay in their homes, and they were paid three months' salaries in advance.

One of the employees, who asked not to be identified, said that a number of his Syrian colleagues who hold Iranian citizenship left with them at night, accompanied by senior officers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

He confirmed that the embassy offices, the consular section, and all Iranian security centers were completely empty the next day.

Testimonies from drivers and employees on the Syrian-Lebanese border during that period also indicated an unprecedented congestion witnessed at the Jdeidet Yabous-al-Masnaa crossing on Thursday and Friday, where the crossing took eight hours.

In another testimony, Syrian Colonel Muhammad Dibo said from inside a base that was used as a main operations room for Iranian forces south of the city of Aleppo: "After the fall of Aleppo, Iran did not fight anywhere else."

He added: "Iran was forced to withdraw suddenly after the rapid collapse, as three suicide bombers from the factions led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham carried out an attack that resulted in the killing of Iranians at the beginning of the operation on Aleppo."

Reports published by Iranian media at the end of October/November 2024 confirmed the killing of elements of the Iranian forces in Aleppo, including a prominent military advisor, Sardar Pour Hashemi, who was buried in Tehran in the presence of a large number of officials.

Dibo explained: "When we entered their headquarters in Aleppo, we found personal documents from passports and identities belonging to Iranian officers, they did not have time to withdraw them."

Dibo, who accompanied the opposition fighting factions from Idlib to Damascus, confirmed that after the control of Aleppo, "about 4,000 Iranian fighters were evacuated via the Russian Hmeimim base to which they resorted, while others fled towards Lebanon and Iraq."

This coincides with what the Syrian officer, who refused to reveal his identity, says, who says that "an Iranian commander known as Hajj Jawad, was evacuated on December 5, 2024, accompanied by a number of Iranian fighters and officers via the Hmeimim base to Tehran."