section_path: Political positions/Views on Iran
section_name: Views on Iran
paragraph_text: Views on Iran
  
  Since the fall of the Assad regime, Ahmed al-Sharaa has made several statements regarding Iran's involvement in Syria. For many years, Syria and Iran maintained a strategic alliance, with Damascus serving as a key component of the so-called ' Axis of Resistance '. However, with the regime's collapse, this relationship is being reassessed. In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat published on 20 December 2024, al-Sharaa asserted that under Bashar al-Assad, Syria had become a platform for Iran to exert influence over major Arab capitals, expand conflicts, and destabilize Gulf nations through activities such as drug trafficking, including the distribution of Captagon. He described Iran's regional ambitions as detrimental and framed the developments in Syria as a setback for Iran's influence in the region. "What we have done and achieved with the least possible damage and losses," he stated, adding that "the Iranian project in the region has been set back 40 years." In February 2025, al-Sharaa condemned Iran and its Axis of Resistance as a "strategic threat to the entire region" and a source of "instability."