Iran urges support from Muslim states against rebel offensive in Syria

 Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday urged Muslim states to help address the problem in Syria, referring to the ongoing major offensive launched by Syria's armed rebel groups since Wednesday.

Pezeshkian made the remarks at a meeting with members of the Iranian administration and parliament in the capital Tehran, according to a statement published on the website of his office, Xinhua reported.

The president urged assistance from Muslim countries to solve Syria's problem, saying regional security could be achieved through efforts of regional states and there is no need for foreign interference.

By Friday, the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an al-Qaida-linked extremist organisation, and allied opposition factions had swept into parts of northwestern Syria's Aleppo for the first time since they were driven out of the city in 2016. The rebels on Saturday advanced in Hama province in central Syria and took control of numerous towns and villages in the northern part of the province, after capturing key territories in Aleppo and Idlib provinces.

However, state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, reported Sunday that the Syrian government forces launched a counteroffensive in the northern countryside of Hama, reclaiming key areas from the rebel groups.

Also on Sunday, Iran's media outlets reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi had departed for Syria's capital Damascus to start a regional tour.

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei announced in a statement that Araghchi would also head to Türkiye for consultations on bilateral and regional issues before leaving for his next destination, which the spokesman did not specify.