Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi issued a decision appointing Mohammad Reza Raouf Sheibani as the new special envoy for Syrian affairs.

The appointment decision stated that Sheibani was appointed as the Iranian Foreign Minister’s special envoy for Syrian affairs due to his distinguished and extensive diplomatic experience in the Foreign Ministry, as reported by the Iranian agency Tasnim on Sunday, January 12.

Sheibani is the former Iranian ambassador to Syria and assistant to the Iranian Foreign Minister.

He has served as Iran’s ambassador to several countries, including Cyprus from 1991 to 1995, Egypt from 2004 to 2005, Lebanon from 2005 to 2009, and Syria from 2011 to 2016, as well as Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran from 2009 to 2011.

Since the fall of the ousted regime on December 8, 2024, Iranian statements about Syria have not ceased, sometimes threatening escalation and at other times expressing readiness to resume relations with the new government in Damascus, although they have not definitively stated their position to date.

Iranian threat… Syrian warning

On December 21, 2024, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that events in Syria are part of a “huge project being planned by the United States and Israel to eliminate any resistance against Israel.”

He added that Tehran does not impose any decisions on the “axis of resistance” and does not seek to interfere in Syrian affairs, considering that its presence in Syria was by invitation from Bashar al-Assad’s regime to fight “armed groups.”

In turn, Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei described the fall of Bashar al-Assad on December 22 as “chaos,” blaming Syrian revolutionaries for causing this chaos.

He stated that the military advancements of the Syrian opposition are “not a victory,” denying the existence of Iranian influence in Syria, according to the Iran International website.

For his part, the Foreign Minister of the Damascus caretaker government, Asaad al-Shibani, warned Iran against sowing chaos in Syria.

In a post on the “X” platform on December 24, al-Shibani said that Iran must respect the will of the Syrian people and the sovereignty and security of the country.

The Syrian Foreign Minister held Iran responsible for the repercussions of its statements regarding Syria.

The head of the new Syrian administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa, mentioned in an interview with the Saudi Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Syria had been “a platform for Iran” through which it managed four Arab capitals, and that its interference had caused wars, corruption, and flooded the region with drugs.

Al-Sharaa affirmed that the removal of Iranian militias from Syria has achieved security stability, considering that the Iranian project has regressed by 40 years, as he noted in various press interviews.