Jakarta -Amidst the shards of glass and trampled flags, torn posters of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are scattered on the floor of the Iranian Embassy in Damascus, Syria.
There are also torn photos of Hassan Nasrallah, the former leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut last September.
Outside, the turquoise tiles at the front of the embassy are still intact.
However, the giant image of Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard who was killed on Donald Trump’s orders during his first term as US president, appears to be damaged.
This seems to serve as a further reminder of a series of heavy blows targeting Iran, which peaked on Sunday (08/12) when Bashar al-Assad, Iran’s main ally, stepped down from his position as president of Syria.
While the wounds have not yet healed, Iran is now preparing to face Trump’s second term as president of the US.
In the midst of this situation, will Iran take a harder approach or instead renew negotiations with the West? And, how stable is the Iranian regime currently?
The Destruction of Iran’s ‘Resistance Axis’
In his first speech after Assad was overthrown, Khamenei appeared to wear a brave face.
Now 85 years old, he faces a major succession challenge after having held power and the highest authority in Iran since 1989.
“Iran is strong and powerful, and it will become even stronger,” said Khamenei.
He emphasized that the Iran-led alliance in the Middle East will only grow stronger and the “scope of resistance” against Israel will continue to expand throughout the Middle East. The alliance now includes Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis in Yemen, and Shiite militias in Iraq.
“The greater the pressure you apply, the stronger the resistance.” The more crimes you commit, the stronger his resolve becomes. “The more you resist it, the broader the resistance will be,” said Khamenei.
However, the impact of the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has left the Iranian regime reeling, even though Iran welcomed, if not outright supported, the attack.
Israel’s retaliation against its enemies has created a new landscape in the Middle East and, as a result, has severely weakened Iran.
A man stepped on a torn portrait of former Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah (left), and the late Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani.
“All the dominoes have fallen,” said James Jeffrey, a former US diplomat and deputy national security adviser, who now works at the non-partisan research institution Wilson Center.
The Iranian Resistance Axis has been destroyed by Israel, and now it is exploding due to events in Syria. Iran does not have any real proxies in the region except for the Houthis in Yemen.
Iran indeed still supports tough militia groups in neighboring Iraq.
However, still, according to Jeffrey: “This is a regional hegemony collapse that has never happened before.”
The last time Assad appeared in public was at a meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister on December 1st.
