On October 29, 2024, sources in the Iranian opposition posted on Instagram statements they attributed to Ali Akbar Velayati, international affairs advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The statements were harshly critical of President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria for his failure to prevent Israel from using Syrian airspace in its October 26, 2024 attack on Iran, and for failing to alert Iran that the Israeli airplanes were en route. They went on to call this a "betrayal" by Syria, stressing that this was particularly egregious in light of Tehran's efforts to preserve the Assad regime throughout the Syrian civil war that broke out in 2011. The statements were widely shared across social media in Iran.
Iranian media published sweeping denials of the statements, but refrained from specifying them, with the exception of one Iranian website, Rouydad24.ir, which did cite them.
It is notable that in recent months, Arab sources have published reports about Iran-Syria tensions due to Syria's decision not to join the fighting against Israel in the current war. This is in contrast to Iran's other proxies in the region – Hizbullah in southern Lebanon, Ansar Allah – the Houthis – in Yemen, and the Iran-backed Shi'ite militias in Iraq (see MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis No. 1783, Arab Reports On Cooling Relations Between Syria's Assad Regime And Iran, August 19, 2024).
The following are translations of the statements attributed to Velayati on Instagram and the denials by Iranian media:
Statements Attributed To Ali Akbar Velayati: "This Means That The President Of Syria Has Betrayed The Sacred Regime Of The Islamic Republic" Of Iran
On October 29, 2024, statements attributed to Ali Akbar Velayati, international affairs advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei were posted on the Instagram account of the oppositionist Iran Briefing (irbr.news), saying: "If our information is correct – that the Syrian government took no action to stop Israeli planes' flight to Iran, and, worse, did not inform the Islamic Republic of Iran in this matter – then this means that the president of Syria has betrayed the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which stood by him and his government in the most difficult of circumstances! We must tackle this matter at the highest echelons, and demand an explanation from the Syrian government and from Bashar Al-Assad himself."[1]
The post on Instagram (Source: Instagram.com/irbr.news, October 29, 2024)
Velayati's Office Denies His Statements
The next day, October 30, 2024, Velayati's office issued a denial of the statements attributed to him by the oppositionist Irbr.news, but refrained from repeating them. Only one website, Rouydad24.ir, noted the remarks that the denial was about.[2]
The office's denial said: "Reports which quote Velayati from unknown sources were published with the aim of slandering and destroying Iran-Syria relations. The public is hereby informed that the abovementioned news and all this published content are totally false and untrue. The Syrian government is a revolutionary, anti-Zionist government and one of the central links in the chain of resistance, and Bashar Al-Assad is an influential man who believes in the resistance, primarily against the Zionist regime."[3]
