In a stunning reversal of its long-standing alliance, Iran abruptly withdrew its military and diplomatic support from Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in the final days before his regime collapsed, according to multiple sources who spoke to AFP. The sudden exit, which occurred in early December 2024, left Syrian officers and soldiers shocked and unprepared for the Islamist-led rebel offensive that swiftly captured the capital.
The Final Meeting: "We Are Leaving"
A former Syrian officer, who requested anonymity for his safety, described a pivotal meeting on December 6, 2024. He was summoned by his Iranian superior, known as Hajj Abu Ibrahim, to an operations centre in Damascus's Mazzeh district. There, Abu Ibrahim delivered a bombshell announcement to around 20 Syrian personnel.
"From today, there will be no more Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Syria. We're leaving," the officer recounted being told. "It's all over. From today, we are no longer responsible for you." The Iranians ordered the destruction of sensitive documents and the removal of computer hard drives. The Syrian personnel were given one month's salary in advance and sent home.
Diplomatic Flight and Border Chaos
The military withdrawal was mirrored by a frantic diplomatic evacuation. Two former employees of Iran's consulate in Damascus described how the building was emptied by the evening of December 5, 2024. Iranian diplomats, along with Syrian staff holding Iranian nationality and senior Revolutionary Guards officers, scrambled across the border to Beirut, Lebanon.
This caused a massive bottleneck at the Jdeidet Yabus border crossing. Taxi drivers and former staff reported an eight-hour wait to clear the frontier on December 5 and 6. The Iranian embassy, consulate, and all security positions were completely deserted by the morning of December 6. Syrian consulate staff were told to stay home and were paid three months' salary.
Strategic Retreat and Russian Evacuation
During the long civil war, Iranian command forces were concentrated in key areas:
- Damascus and its suburbs, including the Sayyida Zeinab shrine area.
- Around Damascus International Airport.
- Near the Lebanese and Iraqi borders.
- Parts of Aleppo and other provincial staging areas.
Colonel Mohammad Dibo, who took part in the rebel offensive and now serves in Syria's new army, stated that when Aleppo fell early in the campaign, "Iran stopped fighting." Their forces had to withdraw suddenly after the rapid collapse of Assad's military.
The evacuation was so rushed that rebels later found passports and identity documents belonging to Iranian officers left behind in bases in Aleppo province. A significant evacuation route was through Russia. The anonymous former officer revealed that on December 5, a senior Iranian official known as Hajj Jawad and several soldiers were evacuated to Russia's Hmeimim base on the coast, then flown to Tehran. Dibo confirmed that some 4,000 Iranian military personnel were evacuated via the Russian base.
The abandoned Iranian base south of Aleppo, visited by an AFP journalist, bore witness to the conflict. On its heavily damaged walls were slogans from Iran and Hezbollah, and a painting of a sword tearing through an Israeli flag—a reminder of the hundreds of strikes Israel launched during the war, primarily targeting Iran-backed groups and Assad's army. Iran's decisive and sudden pullout marked the definitive end of its decade-long, costly effort to keep Bashar al-Assad in power.
