Iran, Russia foreign ministers say they support Syria in confronting rebels, Iran state media reports

(Reuters) - The foreign ministers of Iran and Russia voiced support for Syria on Saturday during a major attack by rebel groups, Iranian state media reported.

Iran's Abbas Araqchi told Russia's Sergei Lavrov in a phone call that the attacks were part of an Israeli-U.S. plan to destabilize the region, state media said.

According to a statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry about the call, both sides "expressed extreme concern about the dangerous escalation of the situation in Syria due to the terrorist offensive by armed groups in the Aleppo and Idlib provinces".

The ministers agreed on the need to intensify joint efforts aimed at stabilizing the situation in Syria.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/iran-russia-foreign-ministers-support-151727505.html

The illusion of Assad’s grip on Syria shatters, as Russia, Iran and Hezbollah let their guard down

“Our leader forever” was a slogan one often saw in Syria during the era of President Hafez al-Assad, father of today’s Syrian president.

The prospect that the dour, stern Syrian leader would live forever was a source of dark humor for many of my Syrian friends when I lived and worked in Aleppo in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Hafez al-Assad died in June 2000. He wasn’t immortal after all.

His regime, however, lives on under the leadership of his son Bashar al-Assad.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/illusion-assad-grip-syria-shatters-201733195.html

Sorry but Pooty Poot is tied down elsewhere.