For decades, what went on behind the walls of the Sednaya military prison in Syria was largely hidden from the world. But after Bashar al-Assad lost power in 2024, droves of inmates were released. They are now sharing the horrors they experienced in the country's deadliest and most violent prison.
Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP
Syria has been one of the world's most complex proxy fights since its civil war broke out in 2011, but who holds power and where is now shifting rapidly.
The biggest change came from the dramatic toppling of Bashar al-Assad's regime in December. It was driven out by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, who are no friends of Russia or Iran.
HTS holds territory from Aleppo in the northwest to Damascus, the seat of the Assad regime. But Syria remains fractured by competing armies. Turkish forces and militants it backs hold pockets near its northern border. The US-partnered Syrian Democratic Forces occupy the large triangle of northeastern Syria, an area that has oilfields and prison camps holding ISIS fighters. Russia is reducing its military footprint as Israel seizes new positions near the Golan Heights. But the newest question mark is the US.
The US has 2,000 troops in Syria backing the Kurdish-led SDF to contain ISIS. It also controls the strategically located al-Tanf base in southern Syria. But the longevity of those deployments is unclear. The Department of Defense is reportedly drafting contingency plans to withdraw all troops should President Donald Trump order it.
"Presently, the HTS-led government is seeking to create the conditions for a US withdrawal from the country that would undermine the SDF coalition, which represents an impediment to the emerging regime's ability to control all of the country," Nicholas Heras, senior director of strategy and innovation at the New Lines Institute, told Business Insider.
US forces in Syria safeguard oilfields and assist the SDF in strikes to defeat remnants of ISIS. These forces are potential leverage that Trump risks losing if he withdraws them before talks with the new government under interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa.
"It seems likely that the Trump administration will keep troops in Syria over the short term and speak about a step-by-step policy of loosening sanctions based on President Sharaa's willingness to develop a constitution and move toward a representative government that does not threaten its neighbors," Joshua Landis, Director of the Centre of Middle East Studies and the Farzaneh Family Center for Iranian and Persian Gulf Studies at the University of Oklahoma, told BI.
The easier chip in bargaining could be the US base at al-Tanf in Syria's southern desert. Controlled by the US-allied, anti-ISIS Syrian Free Army group, the base is situated near the Jordanian border and the important Baghdad-Damascus highway. The US enforced a 34-mile de-confliction zone around al-Tanf which Iranian-backed forces and Assad's regime weren't allowed to access.
"The US presence at al-Tanf was pretty dubious before Assad fell and it serves no discernible purpose now, except possibly as a point of leverage vis-à-vis the new Damascus government," Aron Lund, Middle East analyst with the Swedish Defence Research Agency and fellow with Century International, told BI. "So, al-Tanf could be a place they'll withdraw from first, perhaps after getting some little thing in return from Sharaa's government."
The SDF-controlled regions present a "thornier issue" with much higher stakes. The Kurds guard prisons with thousands of ISIS fighters, but they'd be hard-pressed to maintain these faced with a major offensive by a rival. While HTS has not attacked the SDF, the Turkish-backed militias have done so repeatedly since late 2024.
"There are some real political risks involved, related to an ISIS revival and the fate of Kurdish groups in that area," Lund said. "Even Trump could perhaps be persuaded that these things are worth negotiating over if only to limit the fallout before withdrawing."
Israel expanded its presence along the Golan Heights as Assad's regime collapsed, seizing Mount Hermon. Satellite images show it is building bases there.
"Israel does not trust the HTS-led government and the Israeli posture suggests that Jerusalem could play a strong role in Syrian affairs for years to come," Heras said.
Izzettin Kasim/Anadolu via Getty Images
The outside power that stands the most to gain is Turkey. Ahead of his recent visit to Turkey, reports indicated Sharaa would discuss Turkey potentially establishing bases in Syria's central desert region.
"Turkey already has a forward operating military presence in northwest Syria, and it is unlikely that it will withdraw its forces from the country in the near future," Heras said. "The HTS-led government wants to leverage Turkey to have a patron state to support the development of its security forces."
Russia, by contrast, stands to lose the most. Syria canceled an Assad-era contract with Russia to manage Tartus naval base but Syria's defense minister also said it might let Russia keep this port and the Hmeimim airbase "if we get benefits for Syria."
"Russia now hangs on by its fingertips, but we'll see how that turns out," Lund said. "In five years, they could still have Tartus, perhaps also Hmeimim."
Moscow has had access to Tartus since 1971. Today, these bases are essential to supporting Russian military and mercenary operations across the Middle East and Africa.
"The new Syrian government is obviously no friend of the Russians. It needs to be mindful of the views of its political base, which is made up of ex-rebel factions that hate Putin almost as much as they hate Assad," Lund said. He noted that Russia still has "important leverage" over Syria. Rebuilding the Syrian military without Russian arms could prove challenging, even if Syria aims to have Turkey replace Russia's traditional role as its main arms supplier.
"There's so much legacy Soviet and Russian equipment and training, you can't just throw all that out," Lund said.
Syria's new rulers have little to fear from Russia since the days of Russia relentlessly bombing HTS's Idlib stronghold in support of Assad are gone.
"The Russian bases are there at their mercy, and they seem fairly harmless for the new government," Lund said.
"Letting them stay could even provide a point of leverage."
Paul Iddon is a freelance journalist and columnist who writes about Middle East developments, military affairs, politics, and history. His articles have appeared in a variety of publications focused on the region.
Satellite image ©2025 Maxar Technologies.
Syria is open to allowing Russia to keep hold of its two military bases in the country, two months after rebel groups ousted Kremlin ally Bashar Assad and set in motion a Russian troop and military equipment withdrawal.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said that there is a possibility Russia could hold onto the bases — Hmeimim air base and Tartus port — "if we get benefits for Syria out of this."
It's not clear what military, economic, or political support could be offered, but Abu Qasra said that Russia's stance had "improved significantly" toward the new government.
Assad, who ruled Syria for 24 years, fled to Russia in early December after a lightning two-week military campaign by rebel forces.
This threw Russia's hold on the bases — described by Andreas Krieg, a Gulf specialist at the Institute of Middle Eastern Studies at King's College London, as Russia's "most important bases outside the direct sphere of Russian influence" — into question.
Russia was granted a 49-year lease on the bases in 2017 in return for military assistance.
At the end of January, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that "nothing has changed" and that preserving Russian access to the bases "requires additional negotiations," according to Russian state-controlled news agency TASS.
Prior to his ousting, Assad had enjoyed strong military and political support from Russian President Vladimir Putin, who stationed troops there and helped suppress rebel areas and a 2015 uprising with air and missile strikes.
Within days of Assad's removal, satellite images picked up a flurry of Russian activity at the bases: equipment being packed up, ships moving in and out of port, and the likely transfer of soldiers.
In January, Ukraine said that Russia was moving military gear from Tartus to Libya, where it also has a strong influence.
The Syrian bases are a key foothold in the Middle East and beyond for Russia.
Hmeimim affords Russian air forces a base for refueling and overflight for much of Africa. Tartus, on the Mediterranean, is unique in Russia's assets in being its only warm-water port with direct access to the oceans.
The rebel groups now governing Syria were previously targetted by Russian forces, but Abu Qasra told the Post, "in politics, there are no permanent enemies."
One trump card held by Russia is Assad himself. According to the Post, the new Syrian government wants Assad's extradition so that he can be held to account for his bloody rule.
Director of national intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard shed further light on her 2017 meeting with then-Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, a trip that has come under the microscope since President Donald Trump nominated the former congresswoman.
"There is not a great deal in the public record about what you and Syrian dictator Bashar al Assad discussed for so long in January of 2017. And I think there's a great deal of interest from the American people about what was discussed in that meeting. So what did you talk about? And did you press Assad on things like his use of chemical weapons, systematic torture and the killing of so many Syrians?" Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., asked Gabbard on Thursday.
Gabbard, when she served in the U.S. House, traveled to Syria in 2017, where she met with the dictator, whose government was overthrown years later in 2024. The visit has become a focal point of Democrats' criticism of the DNI nominee, arguing the visit casts doubt on her worldview and judgment.
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"Yes, senator, I, upon returning from this trip, I met with people like then-Leader Nancy Pelosi, and Steny Hoyer, talked to them and answered their questions about the trip," Gabbard, who served in the U.S. House representing Hawaii from 2013 to 2021, responded.
TENSION BUILDS AROUND TULSI GABBARD’S CONFIRMATION WITH KEY GOP SENATORS UNDECIDED
"And quite frankly, I was surprised that there was no one from the intelligence community or the State Department who reached out or showed any interest whatsoever in my takeaways from that trip. I would have been very happy to have a conversation and give them a back brief. I went with former Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who had been there many times before and who had met with Assad before. A number of topics were covered and discussed. And to directly answer your question, yes. I asked him tough questions about his own regime's actions. The use of chemical weapons and the brutal tactics that were being used against his own people."
Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi also met with Assad in 2007, despite then-President George W. Bush's criticism of the visit at the time.
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"Were you able to extract any concessions from President Assad?" Heinrich pressed of Gabbard.
"No, and I didn't expect to, but I felt these issues were important to address," she continued.
"Just in complete hindsight, would you, would you view this trip as, good judgment?" the Senate lawmaker continued.
"Yes, senator. And I believe that leaders, whether you be in Congress or the president of the United States, can benefit greatly by going and engaging boots on the ground, learning and listening and meeting directly with people, whether they be adversaries or friends," Gabbard said.
Gabbard is appearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday as part of her nomination process to serve as director of national intelligence under the second Trump administration.
Satellite image ©2025 Maxar Technologies.
Newly captured satellite imagery shows Russia appearing to evacuate military equipment from a key naval base in Syria. The images are the latest sign that Moscow is scaling down its footprint in the country.
Imagery captured by Maxar Technologies and obtained by Business Insider shows two Russian-flagged cargo ships, Sparta and Sparta II, docked at the port of Tartus on Saturday after spending weeks idling in the Mediterranean Sea before they were allowed to enter.
Russia's long-held military presence at Tartus and nearby Hmeimim airbase fell into uncertainty after the sudden collapse of the Assad regime in early December. It was unclear at the time whether the new Syrian government would allow Moscow to keep the two facilities.
Satellite image ©2025 Maxar Technologies.
Satellite image ©2025 Maxar Technologies.
The satellite images also show trans-loading operations underway to remove equipment and cargo that Russia had staged at the base. A large number of vehicles could be seen at the base in mid-December and earlier this month. The latest images show a notable decrease in these assets.
Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies.
Satellite image ©2025 Maxar Technologies.
Sparta and Sparta II are roll-on/roll-off vessels that can carry wheeled cargo such as vehicles. Both of these ships are sanctioned by the US over their involvement in Russia's war against Ukraine. Marine tracking data shows they arrived at Tartus last week and that Sparta II has already left the port.
The images are the latest indication that Russia is continuing to scale down its military footprint in Syria after rebel forces ousted Bashar Assad, the country's longtime dictator, in a stunning offensive during the fall.
Russia long supported Assad in his civil war, but the rebels now control the province where Tartus and Hmeimim are located. The Kremlin had been engaged in efforts to secure the security of the two bases, but the new government reportedly just canceled Moscow's lease on the port.
Over the past few weeks, satellite imagery has detected signs consistent with a partial or full military withdrawal. At Tartus, Russia emptied out its warships from the port, with some vessels spotted lingering off Syria's coast. And transport aircraft were seen at Hmeimim packing up critical equipment.
The Pentagon said last month that it had observed Russia consolidating assets in Syria, with some forces leaving the country. Ukraine's military intelligence agency has said that Moscow is withdrawing from the country.
Tartus and Hmeimim are both strategically valuable to Russia. The naval facility provides crucial access to a warm-water port, and the airbase allows Moscow to shuttle forces in and out of Africa. Losing both sites would be a major setback for Moscow, which allows it to project power across the Middle East and beyond.
FIRST ON FOX: Carl and Marsha Mueller, the parents of ISIS murder victim Kayla Mueller, offered their full endorsement of Kash Patel for FBI director, after years of building a personal relationship with the Trump administration nominee.
"He loves his country. He loves the people of this country," Marsha Mueller told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview via Zoom on Monday morning. "To us, you know, he is a person that we would go to for help. And he is so action oriented."
"Just like Trump," Carl Mueller added to his wife's comments on Patel's action-motivated personality.
The Muellers wrote a letter this week to Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., of the Senate Judiciary Committee, offering their full endorsement of Patel to serve as director of the FBI under the second Trump administration.
Their daughter Kayla was abducted by terrorists while leaving a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo, Syria, in 2013, when she was assisting with humanitarian efforts amid the country's bloody civil war. She was held hostage for 18 months, when she was believed to be repeatedly tortured and raped by ISIS militants, including then-ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
She was killed in 2015 — with her parents speaking to Fox Digital just days ahead of the 10-year anniversary of her death, on Feb. 6.
Patel served as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council during the first Trump administration, which put him in the Mueller's orbit when he assisted in overseeing the military operation to eliminate ISIS chief al-Baghdadi in 2019.
"We would like to add our voices to those in support of Kash Patel’s nomination to be the director of the FBI," the Mueller's letter to Senate lawmakers and obtained by Fox News Digital reads. "Any family who has lived through such an experience will know the value of dedicated, compassionate law enforcement officials."
"Because we have watched him at his work over time, and because we have personal experience of his dedication, we know that Kash Patel is such a person," the letter continues. "We continue to see in him a genuinely kind, thoughtful, action-oriented man who focuses on what is true and right and just. He loves our country and our citizens and wants the best for us all. He wants our country to be the best it can be."
Patel personally has been at the Muellers side over the past five years, they told Fox News Digital. He has stood out from the crowd as a federal government employee who sincerely cares for Americans who are suffering and will pick up the phone "night or day" to speak with them following the tragic loss of their daughter.
"I'm confident if I texted him right now, he would get back to me before this interview is over," Carl Mueller said.
Patel previously served as a public defender in Florida’s Miami-Dade area, as well as a Department of Justice official during the Obama administration, when he won awards for his prosecution and conviction of 12 terrorists responsible for the World Cup bombings in 2010.
Patel hit the national radar during Trump’s first administration, including when he worked as a national security advisor and senior counsel for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence under the leadership of then-Committee Chair Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif.
The Muellers reflected on the first time they met with Patel at the White House nearly five years ago when he served on the National Security Council, and how he told them to contact him at any time with questions about their daughter or to just talk.
"We actually met Kash — we were back in D.C. at the White House, and he actually came to us and found us. That's the first time we met him and wanted us to go meet with him and National Security Advisor, [Robert O'Brien]. So that's how we first came to meet him. So it's been almost five years ago. And they wanted to sit down and talk with us about Kayla. And we told them that we were working, and we're still working with, [former FBI agent] Ali Soufan. And they told us to continue to work with him and they would help in any way they could. And so that was our first meeting," Marsha Mueller said.
In their letter endorsing Patel, the Muellers reflected on the nominee's note to them encouraging them to reach out, which came as a departure from their treatment under the Obama administration, they said.
"It was actually after that first meeting when we met him, and he wrote us the note, and he said, ‘Please contact me at any time, day or night, with whatever questions you may have, or simply if you just need someone to speak with. I'll always answer your call.' And, you know, he's kept every promise he's ever made to us, as we knew we would from meeting him that first time," Marsha Mueller told Fox News Digital.
PARENTS OF ISIS VICTIM KAYLA MUELLER REFLECT ON THEIR LOSS
The Muellers previously spoke out against the Obama administration's handling of their daughter's captivity in Syria, repeatedly saying she would not have been murdered if Trump was in office when she was taken hostage. Carl Mueller underscored the conviction in his interview on Monday, adding that the second Trump administration not only reopens lines of communication for his family, but extends hope to families around the country who have loved ones in the hands of terrorists.
"We didn't want to forget to mention to the families of current American hostages that their chances of getting their loved ones home have exponentially increased with the Trump administration in there," Carl Mueller said. "As I said before, if Trump would have been in office, Marsha and I are convinced that Kayla would be home. And we feel that he will do everything to get current American hostages. So just a word of encouragement and hope for them, because we know that sometimes hope is all they have."
Then-President Barack Obama offered his condolences to the family following Kayla's death in 2015, vowing that the U.S. would bring the terrorists to justice.
"She has been taken from us, but her legacy endures, inspiring all those who fight, each in their own way, for what is just and what is decent. No matter how long it takes, the United States will find and bring to justice the terrorists who are responsible for Kayla’s captivity and death," Obama said at the time, just roughly four years before the Trump administration wiped out ISIS's leader.
Kayla Mueller's remains have not been recovered, but the couple believes the second Trump administration reinvigorates efforts to bring her and other hostages who have been murdered back to the U.S.
I WORKED WITH KASH PATEL TO EXPOSE THE RUSSIA HOAX AND KNOW HE'S THE BEST PICK TO REFORM THE FBI
"We believe [the Trump administration] will work closely with Ali Soufan to help us find Kayla and hopefully other hostages that were killed and bring them home as well," Marsha Mueller said, referring to a former FBI agent who has worked with the Muellers across the years following Kayla Mueller's captivity and murder.
Patel, if confirmed, will replace former FBI Director Christopher Wray, whom the Muellers also lauded as a compassionate man who has also helped their efforts across the years. Looking ahead to the next four years, they said they are "very fortunate and looking forward to more progress and finding Kayla through the Trump administration."
Patel is set to join the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday as the final leg of his nomination process kicks off in earnest. Patel has been on Capitol Hill meeting with Senate lawmakers to rally support for his nomination, earning praise from conservative lawmakers such as Tennessee Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, as well as endorsements from key law enforcement groups, such as the National Sheriffs' Association. Patel is expected to face an uphill battle overall to secure the nomination, as Democrats balk that he lacks the qualifications to lead the law enforcement agency and would politicize the agency.
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The Muellers explained that even when Patel was no longer serving in the first Trump administration, he met with the couple and other families suffering from losing a loved one to terrorist captivity. The Muellers were among family members who attended the trial of ISIS terrorist El Shafee Elsheikh, a member of the so-called "ISIS Beatles," who admitted to his involvement in and knowledge of Kayla Mueller's captivity.
Elsheikh's trial was held in 2022, when he was convicted by a jury in the Eastern District of Virginia and sentenced to eight concurrent terms of life imprisonment for holding four American citizens, as well as British and Japanese nationals, hostage before their deaths.
Patel joined the Muellers and other affected families during the trial, the couple explained, meeting them and "anyone that wanted to talk with him" at their hotel and speaking to them for maybe an hour.
KAYLA MUELLER’S PARENTS PRAISE TRUMP, SOLDIERS FOR RAID THAT KILLED AL-BAGHDADI
"It was not just the Americans that came down when we were sitting there with him," Marsha Mueller said. "Actually, people from other countries did, too, because … he was willing to sit and talk with us. I was really deeply touched by that."
"But, you know, there was no reason, he was not in government anymore. But yet it was still in his heart and soul for justice," she said.
The couple reflected on the past decade, when they first learned their daughter was murdered, remarking that Obama administration officials "will have to live with" their failure of not bringing the American citizen home before her death.
Marsha Mueller also read her daughter's letter to her family while she was held captive, including a portion of the note that was not widely reported.
"We always like Kayla to speak for herself. And there's a quote out there that most people know, but they don't know what she said after that quote, and if I can get through it, she said, 'I've known for some time what my life's work is, using my hands as tools to relieve suffering.' But she went on to say, 'that is my life's work, but my family is my life.'"
"That's Kayla," Marsha Mueller said through tears. "She loved us. We love her. And we encourage her to go out and help all the people she could in this world."
ALEXANDER KAZAKOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images and Borna News/Matin Ghasemi/Aksonline ATPImages/Getty Images
A top Iranian general has accused Russia of lying to Tehran by saying its jets were attacking Syrian rebels while they were instead bombing the open desert.
In a rare break from Iran's diplomatic line on Syria, Brig. Gen. Behrouz Esbati partially blamed Moscow for the fall of Bashar Assad's government during a speech at a mosque in Tehran.
An audio recording of the speech was published on Tuesday by Abdullah Abdi, a journalist in Geneva who reports on Iran.
"We were defeated, and defeated very badly. We took a very big blow, and it's been very difficult," Esbati said of Assad's fall, according to a translation by The New York Times.
In the recording, Esbati, a senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Russia told Tehran it was bombing the headquarters of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the rebel group spearheading Assad's ousting.
But Moscow's forces were instead "targeting deserts," Esbati said.
Esbati further accused Russia of turning off radars when Israel launched strikes on Syria in 2024, allowing Tel Aviv's forces to attack more effectively.
The general also largely blamed internal corruption for Assad's fall, saying bribery was rife among Syria's top-ranking officials and generals.
He added that relations between Damascus and Tehran grew tense over the last year because Assad refused an Iranian request to facilitate attacks on Israel through Syria.
Business Insider couldn't independently verify Esbati's claims. But they represent an exceptionally frank assessment among Iran's top ranks of its position in Syria, where a new political leadership is still coalescing in Assad's absence.
Iran officially held a much milder tone as Assad's government fell, saying at the time that the fate of Syria would be up to its people and that it "will spare no effort to help establish security and stability in Syria."
Assad, a longtime ally of both Iran and Russia, fled Damascus in early December as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham forces stormed toward the capital from the northwest. International observers believe the rebel advance largely happened as Moscow, a key source of military strength for Assad, found its resources stretched thin by the war in Ukraine.
The Russian defense ministry didn't respond to a request for comment from BI sent outside regular business hours.
Esbati's remarks came as a former senior aide to Assad told the Saudi government-owned outlet Al Arabiya on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had stalled military assistance for Syria.
Kamel Saqr said that Assad had asked Putin to personally approve airlifting military aid to Syria — and that the Russian leader agreed.
The aid was to be transported via Iranian aircraft, but Saqr said Tehran told Assad it didn't receive any requests from Moscow.
Assad then asked Moscow about this, but "no answer came," Saqr said.
Assad's fall, which neither Moscow nor Tehran stepped up to prevent, has brought deep implications for Russia's forces in the region. Moscow had previously relied on an airbase and a naval base, which it maintained under a deal with Assad, for its operations in Africa and the Mediterranean.
It's unclear whether Russia will eventually be able to continue maintaining those two facilities, but reports show that it's preparing to move much of its equipment out of Syria. On Friday, Ukraine said Moscow was planning to move its assets to Libya.
Mikhail KLIMENTYEV / SPUTNIK / AFP
A former aide to Syria's deposed President Bashar Assad described how he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin contributed to the country's collapse.
Speaking to Al Arabiya, a news outlet owned by the government of Saudi Arabia, Kamel Saqr said Putin stalled on a high-stakes effort to broker military help to Assad's forces.
That, he said, left them too weak to repel the rebels who ultimately overthrew Assad in December.
Assad had long relied on support from Russia and also from Iran to maintain power through Syria's long civil war.
Per Saqr's telling, both allies looked the other way as collapse loomed.
Assad was in Moscow as rebels seized control of Syria's second-biggest city, Aleppo, on November 29.
Saqr said in the interview that, during the trip, Assad asked Putin to help transport weapons from Iran via a Russian-occupied base in Syria.
"Bashar al-Assad's request to Putin was for him to personally handle the secure aerial transportation necessary to deliver military aid to support or stop the advance of the Syrian opposition," Saqr said.
His description of behind-the-scenes events could not be verified by Business Insider.
According to Saqr, Putin agreed to the request for arms to be transported using Russia's Hmeimim airbase in Syria.
"But what happened," he said, "was that the Iranians told Bashar al-Assad, 'we did not receive any signals to proceed with moving Iranian aircraft to the Hmeimim base [or to] fly through Iraqi airspace to land at the base.'"
"The question was relayed to Moscow, but no answer came."
The Al Arabiya interviewer asked whether the failed maneuver was down to a "trick" by Putin, and replied that there was "no other explanation."
The Kremlin at the time would not confirm reports Assad was in Moscow as rebels advanced. Saqr told Al Arabiya that he started to believe something was off after the Kremlin refused to release a joint press statement after the leaders met.
Russia and Iran were Assad's two chief international allies, but as rebels began driving back government forces in a lightning advance, neither stepped up to help.
Analysts say that Russia was too distracted by its invasion of Ukraine to offer significant support. Iran and its ally Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based militia, were both badly weakened in their clashes with Israel.
As rebels advanced on the capital, Damascus, Russia flew Assad and his family out of the country, providing them refuge in Moscow.
Saqr, in the interview, said Assad had waited several hours on December 8 at Russia's Hmeimim base for his flight out, ending the Assad family's five decades in power.
"My information suggests that he stayed at the base for several hours until the plane was secured, prepared, and its takeoff and flight to Moscow were ensured," Saqr said.
NATO Maritime Command
Strategic Russian naval bases have been upended by conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, creating headaches for the Kremlin's navy, including its submarine force.
Moscow no longer appears to have any attack submarines in the Mediterranean Sea after NATO forces spotted its last known submarine leaving the region last week.
Portugal's military said that it observed a Russian Kilo-class submarine moving through the country's continental exclusive economic zone near northern Spain on Friday. NATO Maritime Command later identified the vessel as the Novorossiysk.
The Novorossiysk was spotted several weeks earlier at Tartus, a naval base in Syria that Russia had used for years. The future of Moscow's military footprint at the facility — and in the country in general — was, however, thrown into uncertainty after the shocking collapse of the Assad regime last month.
There are indications that Russia is drawing down forces at its bases in Syria. Losing Tartus for good would be a significant blow to Moscow's navy — including its capable submarine force — which relies on the warm-water port to project power across the region and beyond.
Early December satellite imagery showed the Novorossiysk docked in Tartus, but by the middle of the month, it was gone, along with the rest of the Russian warships that had been there. Some of the Russian naval vessels have been spotted in recent weeks loitering off the Syrian coast, but the whereabouts of this submarine were less certain.
OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP via Getty Images
Should Syria's new leadership decide Russia can no longer station its forces at Tartus, it would mark another setback for Moscow's navy, which has suffered a string of stunning losses in the nearby Black Sea since the start of the full-scale Ukraine war nearly three years ago.
Ukrainian forces have used missiles and naval drones to damage or destroy dozens of Russian naval vessels, including one of six improved Kilo-class submarines Moscow's Black Sea Fleet operates, during the conflict.
These attacks have forced Moscow to withdraw the Black Sea Fleet from its long-held headquarters in Sevastopol, a major city in the southwestern corner of the occupied Crimean peninsula, across the region to the port of Novorossiysk along western Russia's coast. If Russia is unable to move back into Sevastopol, that creates complications.
For Russia, losing the ability to keep submarines at Sevastopol and Tartus is less than ideal.
Bryan Clark, a former US Navy officer and defense analyst at the Hudson Institute, said that the remainder of the Kilo-class vessels are based in St. Petersburg, where there is a large naval facility and dry docks for maintenance.
"The Russians are now having to redeploy their submarine force back up to the north" instead of relying on warm-water ports that "you could get in and out of them year-round," Clark told Business Insider. "St. Petersburg, you can't get in and out of year-round."
Satellite image ©2025 Maxar Technologies.
Recent developments also seriously undermine Russia's military influence in the Mediterranean and southern Europe, Clark said.
The Novorossiysk is a newer improved Kilo sub. Submarines of this class are diesel-electric vessels and formidable long-range strike platforms that can attack ships and land targets, deploy for weeks on end, and stay relatively undetected. They are effectively Russia's most capable non-nuclear subs and can carry Kalibr missiles.
Russia has kept a Kilo-class vessel in the region for years. The boat's departure from the region, though Russia could ultimately opt to move another sub into the area later, may signal a broader decline in Russian naval might in the Mediterranean.
In four years, Russia appears to have gone "from being a pretty big player in the Med — in terms of naval forces — to now being a nonexistent player," Clark said.
Russia's basing challenges could ultimately hinder its ability to project power. The uncertainty with Tartus and nearby Hmeimim Air Base — underscores a broader issue for the Russian military.
Satellite imagery captured on Monday by Maxar Technologies, a commercial imaging company, shows no obvious signs of any major Russian naval vessels at Tartus, as has been the case for weeks. Ukraine's military intelligence agency has said Russia is withdrawing from the base.
Whether Moscow is able to negotiate an arrangement with the new Syrian leadership to stay in the country or is forced to relocate to a new hub in North Africa to sustain its operations remains to be seen.
Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP
Russian ships are preparing to transport military equipment from a naval base in Syria to Libya after the fall of Bashar Assad late last year, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
Defense Intelligence of Ukraine wrote on Telegram on Friday that two cargo ships, the Sparta and the Sparta II, were headed toward the Syrian port of Tartus, with the first set to arrive on January 5.
It said they will be used to transport military equipment and weapons to Libya.
DI Ukraine also said that three other ships — the Alexander Otrakovsky, an Ivan Gren-class large landing ship, and the tanker Ivan Skobelev — are scheduled to arrive in Tartus in the coming days.
Ukraine did not say how it obtained the information, which Business Insider was unable to independently verify.
The flurry of movement comes around a month after the fall of Bashar Assad, the longtime ruler of Syria who was considered a close Russian ally.
Assad's ousting, following a rapid two-week campaign by rebel groups, was seen as a sign of the weakening of Russia's grip on the region.
Last month, Ukraine said that Russia was sending vessels to evacuate weapons and military equipment from Tartus.
Russia's lease on the Syrian naval base, as well as its air base at Hmeimim, gave it sweeping abilities to conduct military activity across Africa and the Mediterranean.
Its hold on those bases is now unclear, although in a recent interview Syria's de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, said, "We don't want Russia to exit Syria in a way that undermines its relationship with our country," Radio Free Europe reported.
In its Telegram post, Ukraine said that Africa Corps troops — Russian mercenaries previously under the control of the now-defunct Wagner Group — were also gathered at Tartus.
It added that a Russian naval brigade commander, Davityan Yuriy Albertovich, was reportedly on board one of the ships.
Russia's Ministry of Defence did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Libya, where Russian equipment is said to be headed, is a major hub for Russian activities in Africa, according to a July 2024 Atlantic Council report.
"Strategically positioned at the crossroads of Africa and Europe, it provides Russia with a gateway to its operations in Sudan, Chad, Niger, and other Sahel and Central Africa countries, eventually projecting power and influence across these regions," it said.
Meanwhile, Ukraine said it is readying to increase its involvement with Syria, which is under the effective control of rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he planned to re-establish diplomatic relations with the country "after years of Russian interference," adding that "I really hope that post-Assad Syria will respect international law."
He also said he is readying to supply Syria with grain, according to RBC-Ukraine.
AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images
Back in 2017, the ISIS militant group's reign of terror appeared to be coming to an end.
A US-led coalition ousted its fighters from strongholds in Iraq and Syria, where they had ruled with brutality and inspired a series of harrowing attacks on Western cities.
The loss of its bases and the assassination of many of its leaders badly dented its power, and its prominence faded.
The attack in New Orleans on Wednesday brought the group back into stark prominence.
Fifteen people were killed when the driver of a truck slammed into New Year crowds on Bourbon Street — authorities said the suspect pledged allegiance to ISIS and flew its flag.
Experts and security officials have in recent months issued increasingly urgent warnings of ISIS gathering strength.
ISIS has "remained a continuing threat," said Jessica White, a terrorism analyst at London's Royal United Services Institute, even though it "had to adapt after its territorial defeat."
"They are a diffuse and networked organisation that has alliances and branches that continue to wield influence, cause terror, and further their goals," she told Business Insider on Thursday.
The FBI said it is investigating what ties the suspect, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, may have had with the group. Authorities at first said Jabbar likely did not act alone, though in a press briefing on Thursday the agency said it no longer believes anyone else was involved.
ISIS was little-known in 2015, when it shocked the world by seizing swaths of Syria and Iraq and putting them under a severe form of Islamic law.
The group became known for atrocities, staging theatrical beheadings of hostages, seizing thousands as slaves, and orchestrating waves of terror attacks.
Its adherents cumulatively killed hundreds of people in attacks on Western cities, including Paris and San Bernardino in 2015, Berlin, Brussels, Nice, and Orlando in 2016, and London and Barcelona in 2017.
Attacks in Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia killed many hundreds more.
A US-led military response, launched under President Barack Obama and continued under President Donald Trump, gradually eroded the group with airstrikes supported by allied militias on the ground.
It culminated with the assassination of its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, by US special forces in 2019.
Trump has since boasted of destroying the group, claiming at last year's Republican National Convention that in his first term "we defeated 100% of ISIS."
Since then, the US has maintained a small military presence in northern Syria meant to monitor and extinguish potential resurgence by the group.
Analysts say the group has seized on instability in Afghanistan, where the Taliban regained power after the 2021 US withdrawal, and ongoing chaos in Syria to quietly rebuild its strength.
The group's Afghan affiliate, ISIS-K, presents a particularly potent threat, wrote Colin Clarke, Director of Policy and Research at The Soufan Group, for Foreign Policy in August.
"It is both pushing its propaganda to a more global audience and threatening attacks farther afield," he wrote.
ISIS-K was linked to the March 2024 attack on a music venue in Moscow where 145 people were killed, as well as an attack on a procession in Kerman, Iran, in January 2024 where 95 were killed.
In August, officials foiled a planned ISIS attack at a Taylor Swift concert in Vienna, Austria. The CIA's deputy director said extremists planned to kill "a huge number" there.
One of the main challenges for investigators will be to establish whether the New Orleans attacker took direct instruction from ISIS or was acting on his own volition, Sajjan J. Gohel, International Security Director at the Asia-Pacific Foundation, told CNN.
The group mostly does not directly train extremists at its bases to carry out attacks, unlike the terror group Al-Qaida.
Instead, it largely remotely recruits and directs followers to carry out attacks that don't require much training, such as vehicle ramming or knife attacks.
Clarke, the ISIS expert, described this approach in his August article, called it a "virtual entrepreneur" model.
"Operatives in Afghanistan or Pakistan make contact with would-be ISIS-K supporters abroad to try to convince them to carry out attacks in the countries where they reside," wrote Clarke.
Attacks following that model include the 2016 beheading of a Catholic priest in a church in France, according to reports at the time.
The group is now less concerned with recruiting members in Syria and Iraq, and more on inciting attacks, said White, the RUSI expert.
"While the focus has shifted away from gathering followers to a centralised physical Caliphate, this has transformed the messaging to encouraging devotees to commit attacks whenever, wherever, and by whatever means they can," she said.
The New Orleans attack had "several strategic and symbolic considerations as potentially textbook ISIS," Gohel said.
Vehicle-rammings have been a feature of many deadly, ISIS-linked attacks.
The group's sophisticated propaganda is another powerful tool, enabling it to exploit grievances and attract supporters anywhere where there is internet access.
In some cases, followers with no direct links to the group have carried out attacks in its name. The 2017 Westminster Bridge attack in London seemed to fit that pattern.
The group's use of the internet, and success in radicalising those with no previous extremist links, make it particularly difficult to tackle.
"None of this is new. They just continue to throw it out every single day," Aaron Zelin, an expert on jihadist groups at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told NBC News of the group's methods. "And from their perspective, the hope is that it sticks with somebody,"
Huseyin Nasir/Anadolu via Getty Images
Turkey offered to help rebuild the Syrian military shattered by the fall of the long-ruling Assad regime and Israeli airstrikes, potentially filling a void left by Russia's diminishing forces.
Limited Turkish arms are inroads to bolstering the victorious Hayat Tahrir al-Sham Islamist movement in Syria, but Turkey will likely need financial support to pay for more extensive military rebuilding that could allow it to become the dominant foreign power in Syria, regional experts said.
"Turkey will likely try to fill Russia's role, including in relation to Israel," said Aron Lund, a fellow with Century International and a Middle East analyst at the Swedish Defense Research Agency. "A Turkish contingent in the Golan Heights, or even just a military liaison of some sort, could back up UN missions and serve as a buffer and facilitator between Israeli and Syrian leaders."
"It's exactly the kind of role Turkey would want. It would institutionalize Ankara's role not just in Syria, but in Arab-Israeli peacemaking."
Russia and the former Soviet Union were long the leading suppliers of military hardware to Syria under the rule of recently deposed President Bashar al-Assad and his father Hafez, who died in 2000. Much of the former regime's remaining military stockpiles were destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in December.
"While Turkey may play an important role in providing military hardware, it is unlikely to fully become the primary supplier of the new Syrian Army," Suleyman Ozeren, a lecturer at the American University and senior fellow at the Orion Policy Institute, told Business Insider.
"With Western reluctance to arm HTS's military and Turkey's limited capacity, Syria will likely need to diversify its sources of heavy weaponry, potentially increasing its dependence on Gulf Cooperation Council countries" — Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These countries share an interest in countering Iran's influence.
Ozkan Bilgin/Anadolu via Getty Images
HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa recently said it could take up to four years before holding elections. Turkey may have an opportunity to extend its influence in Syria by backing a viable government whose immediate needs are likely to center on guns, vehicles and drones to consolidate internal control.
"Syria is awash in arms, ministries and state agencies are largely staffed by people appointed under Assad's rule, and there's no apparent economic base for any of this," Lund told BI. "So, I would caution that Syria's next government is still pretty much a hypothetical thing."
"The new government will need military support and equipment," Lund said. "The old military, or what was left of it, imploded when Assad's regime collapsed."
Turkey is well-positioned to fulfill the new regime's likely needs. In Libya, in the wake of the Gaddafi regime's 2011 collapse, it equipped the UN-recognized government in Tripoli with Turkish-built Bayraktar TB2 drones and Kipri armored vehicles, replacing the former regime's destroyed arsenal. The TB2 drones played a decisive role in pushing back the militia forces of General Khalifa Haftar in 2020 after they had besieged Tripoli.
Building up a large conventional army to compete with foreign rivals will not likely be a priority for Damascus anytime soon, and a ground-up rebuilding will take years and large expenditures.
"The primary needs of Syria's next government won't be to wage major conventional wars. Rather, they'll need the kind of stuff that helps them overwhelm local rivals, keep order in the chaotic rural periphery, hunt down Islamic State remnants, and patrol the borders," Lund said.
Despite having the second-largest army in NATO and a formidable domestic arms industry, Turkey could still struggle to build a conventional Syrian military from the ground up.
"In so far as that can't already be found in Syria, Turkey seems well placed to provide it," Lund said. "The question, of course, is who would pay for it. Qatar might be willing to step in to fund some purchases."
Turkey could train Syria's new military, host its officers for military studies in Turkey, and eventually hold joint exercises that could pave the way for a deeper alliance, Lund said.
But standing up a military in a devastated country may prove more challenging than fueling an insurgency.
"Turkey will likely pursue defense and security agreements with Syria while carefully navigating its relationships with Arab states to avoid diplomatic isolation," Ozeren said. "However, creating an army is very much different than supporting or creating a proxy force which could risk long-term instability in the region."
"Ultimately, the question remains whether Turkey has the capacity to provide the necessary training and hardware to establish a fully functioning standard army in Syria," Ozeren added. "The experiences in Libya and with the [Syria National Army opposition group] do not provide a definitive answer to this challenge."
Paul Iddon is a freelance journalist and columnist who writes about Middle East developments, military affairs, politics, and history. His articles have appeared in a variety of publications focused on the region.
Israel Defense Forces/Screengrab via Telegram
From Gaza to Beirut, Damascus to Tehran, it's been a rough year for Iran and its allies and proxy forces across the Middle East.
Israel's wars against Hamas and Hezbollah have severely degraded these two Iranian proxies, while its military confrontations with Iran itself have left the country short on critical defenses. Tehran's key ally — Syria's longtime dictator, Bashar Assad — was just ousted by rebel forces.
A senior Biden administration official said earlier this month that Assad's fall can be traced to US support for Israel in its conflicts with Iran and its proxies and Ukraine in its defense against Russia.
"Hamas is on its back; its leaders are dead," the US official told reporters. "Iran is on its back. Hezbollah is on its back. Russia is on its back. It's just abandoned its only ally in the Middle East."
"Now, the Assad regime — Russia and Iran's main ally in the Middle East — has just collapsed," they said.
Fadel Itani/Middle East Images via AFP
Hamas' October 7, 2023, massacre, which killed around 1,200 people in Israel, sent shockwaves through the Middle East and triggered an immediate — and devastating — military response.
What began as an aerial bombardment later turned into an Israeli invasion of Gaza. After more than a year, Israel has eliminated Hamas' military leadership, including Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7 attacks, in a scorched-earth campaign that local authorities in Gaza say has killed over 45,000 Palestinians and drawn international condemnation.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said after Sinwar's killing that Israel has "decimated" the military structure of Hamas, although he acknowledged the group is still a threat in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Hezbollah started attacking Israel shortly after October 7, and the two longtime enemies regularly exchanged cross-border fire for nearly a year, displacing tens of thousands of people as fighting steadily escalated.
In September, Israel sharply increased the pressure with its audacious pager attacks, followed by a new campaign of strikes that wiped out Hezbollah's senior leadership and weaponry. Israeli forces then invaded Lebanon before a late-November cease-fire ended the fighting, which left thousands of people dead across the country.
Brian Carter, the Middle East portfolio manager at the American Enterprise Institute's Critical Threats Project, said earlier this month that the "Israeli operations in Lebanon have defeated Hezbollah and compelled the group to end its involvement in the October 7 War."
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In early April, an Israeli airstrike on an Iranian diplomatic facility in Damascus killed multiple senior Iranian military officials, escalating what had long been a shadow war between Israel and Tehran.
Iran responded later that month by launching over 300 missiles and drones at Israel, but nearly all the projectiles were shot down in what was the first-ever direct attack on Israel from Iranian soil. Israel then struck Iran in retaliation.
In July, Iran accused Israel of executing the daring assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas' political wing. Haniyeh was killed at a guesthouse in Tehran — a tremendous security breach and a blow to Iran.
Iran waited months to retaliate over the killing of Haniyeh and other proxy leaders, but on October 1, it launched some 200 ballistic missiles at Israel — the second direct confrontation between the two bitter foes. Officials said a majority of the Iranian missiles were intercepted.
Israel then responded later that month, carrying out widespread airstrikes that nearly wiped out all of Iran's air-defense systems and degraded its ability to produce missiles. An Israeli security official told BI in the aftermath that the strikes were "powerful" and put Tehran at a "disadvantage," as they left the country vulnerable to follow-on military action.
AP Photo/Leo Correa
Iran long supported the Assad regime because it viewed Damascus as a crucial pillar for keeping weapons flowing to Hezbollah and projecting its influence across the region to Lebanon along the Mediterranean Sea.
But earlier this month, Syria's yearslong civil war ended in shocking fashion when rebel forces suddenly swept across the country in a lightning offensive that lasted just days and ended with their capture of Damascus. Assad and his family fled to Moscow.
US officials attributed the sudden collapse of the Assad regime to the fact that its main allies — Iran, Hezbollah, and Russia — were much weaker than in years past and simply couldn't intervene militarily as they had done earlier in the civil war.
President Joe Biden said after the rebels captured Damascus that the military setbacks Iran and Hezbollah have suffered fighting against Israel this year essentially made it "impossible" for them to continue to support the Assad regime.
Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images
One Iranian ally that has stood out among the others is the Houthis, a rebel group in Yemen that has spent over a year attacking civilian and military ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Armed with a large, diverse stockpile of missiles and attack drones, the Houthis have launched more than 130 attacks on vessels transiting shipping lanes off the coast of Yemen. They have struck a number of merchant ships, sinking two of them and hijacking one. Four sailors have been killed during the campaign.
The Houthis have said their campaign is in support of Palestinians in Gaza, although US officials often dismiss this claim since the rebels have targeted vessels sailing under many different flags. These attacks have caused a significant decline in activity along a key global trade route, forcing shipping companies to make longer and more costly trips around Africa.
A Western naval coalition, led by the US Navy, has so far been unable to defeat or deter the Houthis. American forces routinely intercept inbound missiles and drones and carry out strikes against the rebels in Yemen.
Though degraded, the Houthis still retain the ability to attack ships. Just this month alone, the rebels have targeted US warships and commercial ships with missiles and drones on multiple occasions. The vessels all emerged unscathed after the attacks, but the incidents underscore the enduring threat that shows no signs of stopping.
A hostage rescue operator in Syria offered a glimmer of holiday hope in the case of a missing U.S. journalist, telling Fox News Digital he believes Austin Tice is alive and is hopeful that he will be found soon.
While refusing to divulge sensitive details, Grey Bull Rescue’s Bryan Stern asserted that he has intelligence that leads him to believe the 43-year-old Marine veteran and reporter who was kidnapped in Syria in 2012 is alive, or at least was up until recently.
"I would say 100%, I would bet that he is alive, or at least was as of two weeks ago," Stern told Fox News Digital from his hotel room in Syria. "I would bet that he's being cared for and tended to," he went on.
"I further submit that, he's findable," he went on. "We don’t recover dead bodies. Not to say that we wouldn’t, but we’re a nonprofit, we wouldn’t be putting resources toward that, freezing to death, missing my fourth Christmas with my family, if I didn’t believe he was alive and findable."
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Stern has led high-level rescue missions in some of the most dangerous corners of the world, including Ukraine, Russia, Sudan, Israel, Haiti, Lebanon and the U.S. during natural disasters.
"We have done 12 jailbreaks from Russia," said Stern. "That is 12 more than the CIA."
The ousting of Bashar al-Assad and subsequent takeover of Syria by HTS has offered the Biden administration and Tice’s family a renewed sense of hope that the journalist could be found.
"He could have died of a stomach bug three years ago. And we just don't know. I don't think that that's the case," said Stern. "I have no reason to believe that that's the case. There's not a single piece of information, circumstantial or otherwise, that indicate anything near that. In fact, everything I have is counter to that."
The Syrian government for more than a decade refused to negotiate the release of Tice, who was abducted while reporting on the uprising against the Assad regime during the early stages of the Syrian civil war, which ultimately ended earlier this month after the Syrian president was ousted and fled to Moscow.
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The mood in Syria is "cautiously happy" after decades of brutal oppression, according to Stern, and while the new governing force HTS is "not standing in the way" of finding Tice, they’re more preoccupied with learning how to govern than assisting in the search efforts.
The most likely scenario, according to Stern, is that Tice is being detained in a home in a neighborhood, looked after by Assad-friendly Alawites, the same branch of Islam as the former leader. Many of the country's prisons have now been searched or emptied and he doesn't believe President Vladimir Putin would hold Tice in Russia.
"The relationship between Assad and Putin is significantly overblown. [Assad] has been there over two weeks and they haven't even seen each other," said Stern.
"The Russians are like we don't need this problem, that is a great way to p--- off soon-to-be-President Trump, I mean who was obsessed with the Austin Tice case years ago."
Investigators believe Tice escaped years ago but was found in just such a neighborhood in Damascus and thrown back in detainment.
The State Department’s Rewards for Justice office is offering a $10 million reward for any information leading to the finding of Tice, but Stern said he believes anyone with information is more driven by tribal loyalty than monetary reward.
"Assad is living the good life in the tower in Moscow. But make no mistake, he still has reach inside of Syria," said Stern. "Half of the new government were Assad guys last week."
"That tribal nexus plus the fear of Bashar Assad being able to reach out and touch people still in Syria, why would they come forward?"
Another group working with Grey Bull asserted this week that they believe Tice is alive.
"We have data that Austin is alive till January 2024, but the president of the U.S. said in August that he is alive, and we are sure that he is alive today," Nizar Zakka, president of Hostage Aid Worldwide, said Tuesday, according to multiple reports.
"We are trying to be as transparent as possible and to share as much information as possible."
Zakka offered little evidence to back up its statements made from a press conference in Damascus, though he reportedly used an image to demonstrate the locations where Tice was held from November 2017 to February 2024.
U.S. Hostage Aid Worldwide has engaged with Tice’s family and U.S. authorities in the hunt for Tice, and the Biden administration has echoed a message of hope that Tice is alive, despite months of little word about his whereabouts.
United24/Oliver Alexander/X
A Russian-flagged cargo vessel has sunk in the Mediterranean Sea after an explosion in its engine room, Russia's foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Fourteen crew members were rescued, but two were missing, the ministry's situation and crisis unit said in a Telegram post.
The ministry said the vessel, the Ursa Major, was owned by SK-YUG LLC, a Russian shipping company also known as SC South that has been sanctioned by the US.
Spain's Maritime Rescue agency told Business Insider that it had received a distress alert call from the Ursa Major last night.
It said the ship was 57 nautical miles off the coast of Almeria in southern Spain in bad weather conditions. This prompted the maritime rescue centers of Almeria, Cartagena, and Madrid to coordinate a rescue effort, it added.
The 14 people rescued were transferred to the Spanish port city of Cartagena, the agency said, adding that another Russian ship later arrived in the area and took over the rescue operations.
Ship tracking data said the 466-foot Ursa Major, built in 2009, last departed from St. Petersburg on December 11.
It comes after Ukraine's intelligence directorate reported on Monday that a Russian cargo ship called Sparta had broken down near Portugal after the engine failed.
The GUR said the ship had been sent to evacuate Russian weapons and equipment from Syria.
The crew was able to fix the vessel, and it continued on through the Strait of Gibraltar, the GUR said.
It remains unclear whether the Sparta and the Ursa Major are the same ship. Maritime tracking data shows that the Ursa Major was previously named Sparta III.
Moscow has operated two military facilities in Syria, the Hmeimin airbase and the Tartus naval base. Both have been crucial for projecting Russia's influence across the Middle East and Africa.
The fall of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar Assad earlier this month has called the future of the bases into question.
Ukraine's GUR said earlier this month that Russia had deployed four ships to help evacuate equipment in Syria, including ships named the Sparta and Sparta II.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies
A ship sent to evacuate Russian troops and equipment from Syria broke down while in the open sea off Portugal, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
In a Telegram post on Monday, Ukraine's main intelligence directorate said that the Sparta cargo ship's engine failed and that the crew was trying to fix the problem while the ship was drifting in the high seas.
Since the fall of Bashar Assad, Syria's longtime ruler, earlier this month, the fate of Russia's two military bases in the country — the Hmeimim air base and the Tartus naval base — has been under threat.
Russia struck a 49-year lease with Assad's government for the bases, which it has used since 2017 to project power in the Mediterranean and into Africa.
But Syrian rebels, led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, overthrew Assad earlier this month, after a rapid two-week campaign.
Last week, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there were "no final decisions" about Russia's bases in Syria but that Moscow is in contact with "representatives of the forces that currently control the situation" in the country.
Earlier this month, Ukraine said the Russian Sparta and Sparta II cargo ships had left Russia and were heading to Tartus to transport military equipment from the Russian base on Syria's Mediterranean coast.
The journeys required the ships to sail along stretches of European coastline to access the Mediterranean.
Russian state media said earlier this month that Syrian rebel forces now controlled Latakia province, where the Russian bases are located.
Images taken in mid-December by Maxar Technologies showed Russian aircraft still present at the base in Hmeimim, but warships no longer stationed at the nearby naval facility in Tartus.
Satellite image ©2024 Maxar Technologies
Last week, analysts from the Institute for the Study of War said Russia was probably taking this "tentative" stance and removing some assets in case HTS decided to deny Russia a sustained military presence in Syria.
Obeida Arnaout, the spokesman for Syria's new transitional government, told the Associated Press last week that Russia should reconsider its presence and interests in Syria.
"Their interests were linked to the criminal Assad regime," he said.
"They can reconsider and take the initiatives to reach out to the new administration to show that they have no animosity with the Syrian people, and that the era of Assad regime is finally over," he added.
The Biden administration has lifted a $10 million bounty on the head of Ahmed al-Sharaa, leader of the group that overthrew Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
In exchange, al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, agreed to a U.S. demand not to allow terrorism groups in Syria to threaten the U.S. or Syria’s neighbors.
"We had a good, thoroughgoing discussion on a range of regional issues," Barbara Leaf, the U.S.’s top envoy to the Middle East, told reporters of her Friday meeting with al-Sharaa.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) drove Assad out of Damascus earlier this month. While other rebel factions remain throughout the country, HTS has amassed control over much of Syria.
HTS was founded as an offshoot of al Qaeda but broke away from the group in 2016. It evolved from the Nusrah Front, which was designated as a terrorist group in 2012, and in 2018 the U.S. added HTS’ terrorism designation.
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"It was a policy decision… aligned with the fact that we are beginning a discussion with HTS," Leaf explained.
"So if I’m sitting with the HTS leader and having a lengthy detailed discussion about the interests of the US, interests of Syria, maybe interests of the region, it's suffice to say a little incoherent then to have a bounty on the guy’s head."
The group has been trying to shake its extremist reputation and the designation, with al-Sharaa claiming he does not want Syria to become the next Afghanistan and he believes in education for women.
"We've had universities in Idlib for more than eight years," Sharaa told BBC, referring to Syria's northwestern province that HTS has held since 2011.
"I think the percentage of women in universities is more than 60%."
"He came across as pragmatic," Leaf said. "It was a good first meeting. We will judge by deeds, not just by words."
U.S. officials have visited Syria to push for a pragmatic government and to find information on the whereabouts of detained U.S. journalist Austin Tice.
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The U.S. has had a mixed relationship with HTS due to its militant Islamist roots.
Al-Sharaa has said HTS is not a terrorist group because it does not target civilians or civilian areas, and they consider themselves to be the victims of the crime of Assad's regime.
The U.S. has launched an aggressive campaign of airstrikes in northeastern Syria to take out ISIS militants, fearing a resurgence amid the upheaval in Syria which could lead to the release of more than 8,000 IS prisoners, "a significant security concern," according to the Pentagon.
The Pentagon revealed on Thursday that the U.S. doubled the number of its forces from 900 to roughly 2,000 to fight IS before Assad’s fall.
The fall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad was the crescendo of a remarkably bad year for the Iranian regime.
The Islamic Republic suffered major blows in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, diminishing the power of its so-called Axis of Resistance. Its currency officially became the lowest valued in the world and when Israel decimated its proxy forces, the U.S. elected a president whom Iran so despises that it spent years trying to assassinate him.
Here’s a look back at blows suffered by Ayatollah Ali Khameini and his regime over the past year:
In April, Israel bombed the Iranian embassy in Syria, prompting Iran to strike back with more than 300 drones and missiles aimed into Israel. But Israel worked with the U.S., Jordan and Saudi Arabia to shoot down nearly every missile and drone.
The late Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash while visiting a remote area. Iran has blamed the crash on dense fog. Raisi was a protégé and potential successor of Iran’s supreme leader, Khameini.
While Iran inaugurated a new president this summer, Israel infiltrated to take out Hamas commander Ismail Haniyeh while he was visiting Tehran for the inauguration. While Haniyeh was staying in a VIP government guest house, Israel detonated a remote-controlled bomb.
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Israel Defense Forces (IDF) took out Hamas head Yahya Sinwar after encountering him on a routine patrol in the Gaza city of Rafah. Sinwar was the mastermind behind the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and was one of the most wanted men of the war.
Hamas has lost thousands of fighters and much of its leadership ranks to Israel’s attacks and is nowhere near the threatening force on Israel’s borders Iran hoped it would be.
Iran’s currency tanked to an all-time low upon news of the Trump election, and the expectation that he might bring back a "maximum pressure" policy.
The Iranian rial is down 46% this year, making it officially the least-valuable currency in the world.
Iran has long vowed revenge for Trump approving the 2019 killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani – and U.S. intelligence revealed Tehran plots to kill the president-elect.
After the Trump administration pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, it imposed harsh sanctions on the regime to stop its funding of proxies abroad, banning U.S. citizens from trading with Iran or handling Iranian money.
It also punished entities in other countries that did business with Iran, by cutting them off from the dollar.
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President Joe Biden often waived enforcement of such sanctions, keen to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons and fearful of driving up global oil prices.
Iran gained access to more than $10 billion through a State Department sanctions waiver that allowed Iraq to continue buying energy from Iran, which the Biden administration argues is necessary to keep lights on in Baghdad.
In the fall, Israel reoriented much of its efforts toward pummeling Hezbollah after a series of cross-border attacks from the Lebanese militant group. Israel targeted Hezbollah’s leadership and detonated hundreds of pagers the group had been using to communicate. At the end of November, Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire where it and Israel must both end their armed presences in southern Lebanon.
Both sides have claimed the other has broken the fragile truce, but it has ostensibly held for weeks.
Syrian rebels sent Iran's Quds forces, an extension of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, running as they captured Damascus and pushed out President Bashar al-Assad. Iran's forces had been in Syria propping up Assad since civil war broke out in 2011, but had been diminished since the outbreak of war elsewhere in the Middle East.
Syria's new government is set to be run by Sunni Muslims, hostile to Iran's Shiite government. And Iran lost a key supply line through Syria it had used to arm Hezbollah in its fight against Israel.
Aref TAMMAWI / AFP
The US is set to remove a $10 million bounty on Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the opposition group that spearheaded an offensive against Bashar Assad's Syrian government forces.
Barbara Leaf, the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, made the announcement in an online briefing on Friday while discussing a diplomatic trip to Damascus where US representatives met with Jolani.
Leaf said the US delegation "welcomed positive messages" from the leader — who now goes by his birthname Ahmed al-Sharaa — and that he assured them that terrorist groups would not be allowed to pose a threat in Syria.
"And so based on our discussion, I told him we would not be pursuing the Rewards for Justice reward offer that has been in effect for some years," she said.
Pressed for more information on why the US had decided to lift the bounty, Leaf said it was a "policy decision" that "aligned with the fact that we are beginning a discussion with HTS," adding that it would be "a little incoherent then to have a bounty on the guy's head" while sitting down for discussions on regional interests.
HTS, which is listed as a terrorist organization by both the US and the United Nations, traces its origins to Al Qaeda.
Jolani cut his ties with Al Qaeda in 2016 to form a new group, which became HTS the following year.
He has worked for years to portray himself as a more moderate leader to the West and has called the group's terrorist designation a "political label that carries no truth or credibility."
While stressing that the US would "judge by deeds" rather than words, Leaf said Jolani appeared "pragmatic" and noted that he had previously issued "moderate statements" on issues such as women's rights and the protection of equal rights for all communities.
The US delegation, which included Roger Carstens, the special envoy for hostage affairs, also used the Damascus trip to explore leads on the whereabouts of Austin Tice, an American journalist who disappeared in Syria in 2012.
Carstens said that they had had "a lot of information coming in" but that it remained unclear whether Tice was alive. "The bottom line is the information that we have right now doesn't confirm either in one way or the other."
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces had conducted an airstrike that killed ISIS leader Abu Yusif in eastern Syria.
One other ISIS operative was also killed in the strike that occurred on Thursday, the agency said in a release on Friday morning.
"As stated before, the United States — working with allies and partners in the region — will not allow ISIS to take advantage of the current situation in Syria and reconstitute," CENTCOM Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said. "ISIS has the intent to break out of detention the over 8,000 ISIS operatives currently being held in facilities in Syria."
"We will aggressively target these leaders and operatives, including those trying to conduct operations external to Syria," he said.
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The agency said they carried out the targeted airstrike in the eastern province of Deir ez Zor in Syria, noting that it's part of their ongoing commitment to "disrupt and degrade efforts" by terrorists.
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They said the area was previously controlled by the Syrian regime and Russian forces before the recent fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Al-Assad fled to Russia earlier this month and ended a nearly 14-year struggle to maintain power in his country.
Attacks by the Turkish military on Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have increased since the Syrian president fled to Russia on Dec. 8.
Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Ryder said that in light of the instability in the region, as well as al-Assad's departure, there are 2,000 U.S. troops deployed in Syria.
Fox News Digital's Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
