Russia denied Assad's request to use Hmemim Base for Iranian military aid, former Syrian official reveals

Jan. 5, 2025

ERBIL (Kurdistan24)—Kamel Sakr, the former director of Syria's Presidential Media Office, has revealed that Russia refused Bashar al-Assad's request to use the Hmemim airbase for transferring Iranian military assistance to the Syrian army following the collapse of Aleppo.

Speaking on Al Arabiya's "Damascus Time" podcast, Sakr said that Assad was incapable of establishing contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin three days before December 8, when opposition forces secured control of Damascus.

As stated by Sakr, Iranian officials notified Assad that they had received no guarantees concerning the transfer of their aircraft to the Russian-controlled Hmemim military base.

When Assad inquired about this matter with Moscow, he received no response.

The former Syrian official also remarked that Iranian officials reported an incident where one of their aircraft tried to approach the Hmemim airbase but was compelled to turn back after receiving threats of interception from U.S. forces.

Sakr described the worsening conditions before Aleppo's downfall, depicting a severely compromised Syrian military institution that was disallowed from engaging in combat operations, coupled with a calamitous economic situation throughout the country.

The former official also revealed that Iraq had informed Syria on December 6 about Turkey's rejection of any form of dialogue with Syria.

Despite attempts by Alexander Lavrentiev, Russia's Special Envoy to Syria, to arrange a meeting between Assad and Turkish President Erdogan, Assad rejected the proposal, agreeing only to security-level meetings between the two countries' officials.

Sakr stated that Assad's rejection to meet with Erdogan, despite Russian encouragement, was met with displeasure from Moscow.