PHOTO: Claimed image of General Qassem Soleimani (left), head of Iran’s elite Quds Force, in Syria’s Aleppo this week

Iran has hailed the crisis in Syria’s largest city Aleppo as a defeat for the US.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of Parliament’s National Security Committee, declared on Saturday, “The victory of Aleppo was a very important event. In fact, the US and its allies both in Europe and the region faced a defeat once again.”

He proclaimed that, despite economic sanctions, the Assad regime had won in Aleppo “through unity between the nation, government, and army”.

The deputy head of Iran’s armed forces, General Masoud Jazayeri echoed on Sunday, “The victory of the Syrian fighters and the resistance front against the enemy foiled the US plot to disintegrate Syria and overthrow its legitimate government, and, from a macro perspective, the US dreams of the Greater Middle East were shattered.”

And the Supreme Leader’s top aide Ali Akbar Velayati said in a Sunday interview, “It was the most important victory during the past five years that Syria has been entangled in the war on terrorism and a prelude to future victories, including the liberation of Mosul [in Iraq].”

Velayati claimed that terrorists had come from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, the US, and Europe to continue their masters’ occupation policies in Syria but failed”: “The terrorists will experience repeated defeats and Aleppo’s freedom will be a prelude to the future victories of the Syrian army and its allies.”

Iranian Challenges to Aleppo Removals

After months of siege and heavy bombing, foreign forces — including Iranian commanders and troops, Hezbollah fighters, and Iranian-led Iraqi and Afghan militias as well as some Syrian Army, paramilitary, and militia units — have taken almost all of the opposition areas of Aleppo, divided since July 2012.

In the past week, Iran has twice undermined agreements, brokered by Russia and Turkey, for the removal of the estimated 50,000 civilians and thousands of rebels still in eastern Aleppo city.

See Syria Daily, Dec 17: Discussions Continue About Renewed Aleppo Deal

Tehran has objected to the arrangements, brokered by Russia and Turkey, because they do not include a provision for the removal of wounded from two Assad regime enclaves in opposition-held Idlib Province.

As discussions on Saturday tried to revive the deal, Iranian State media indicated that Tehran might continue to block implementation.

Press TV, describing a phone call between Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan and his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu, said:

The two ministers emphasized that the Syrian town of Fu’ah and the village of Kefraya, which are besieged by the terrorists, must be liberated at the earliest.

Dehghan and Shoigu also called for a firm and all-out battle against Takfiri terrorists in Syria until the full establishment of security in the war-stricken country.

Iran has provided essential military, political, and economic support to prop up the Assad regime since the beginning of the Syrian uprising in March 2011.