The fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria was the culmination of an extremely bad year for the Iranian regime.
The Islamic Republic has suffered major blows in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, weakening its so-called axis of resistance. Its currency officially became the world’s least valuable currency, and while Israel wiped out its proxy army, the United States elected a president that Iran despised so much that it spent years trying to assassinate him.
Here are the blows Ayatollah Ali Khameneni and his regime have suffered over the past year:
The fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria was the culmination of an extremely bad year for the Iranian regime. (Office of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Associated Press, File)
April: Counterattack against Israel fails to do damage
In April, Israel bombed the Iranian embassy in Syria, prompting Iran to dispatch more than 300 drones and missiles to counter Israel. But Israel, working with the United States, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, shot down nearly all the missiles and drones.
May: President dies in helicopter crash
Late Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash while visiting a remote area. Iran blamed dense fog for the crash. Raisi is a disciple and potential successor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
July: Top Hamas commander removed
This summer, when Iran took office as its new president, Israel infiltrated and killed Hamas commander Ismail Haniyeh when he visited Tehran for the inauguration. While Haniyeh was staying at a VIP government hotel, Israel detonated a remote-controlled bomb.
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October: Hamas leader and mastermind of October 7 attack killed
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar after encountering him during a routine patrol in the Gaza city of Rafah. Sinwar was the mastermind behind the attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and one of the most wanted men in the war.
Hamas has lost thousands of fighters and much of its leadership in Israeli attacks and is far from the force Iran had hoped to threaten Israel’s borders.
The Israel Defense Forces killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar after encountering him during a routine patrol in the Gaza city of Rafah. (Associated Press)
November: Trump is elected
Iran’s currency fell to a record low on news of Trump’s election and expectations that he might resume “maximum pressure” policies.
The Iranian rial has fallen 46% this year, officially becoming the world’s least valuable currency.
Iran has long vowed retaliation for Trump’s approval of the 2019 assassination of General Qasem Soleimani, and U.S. intelligence has revealed that Tehran plotted to assassinate the president-elect.
after Trump administration The United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018 and imposed severe sanctions on the Iranian regime, preventing it from providing funds to overseas proxies and prohibiting American citizens from trading with Iran or handling Iranian funds.
It also punishes entities in other countries that do business with Iran by cutting them off from the U.S. dollar.
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President Joe Biden It has often given up on enforcing such sanctions, keen to bring Tehran to the negotiating table to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons and wary of pushing up global oil prices.
Iran’s currency fell to a record low on news of Trump’s election and expectations that he might resume “maximum pressure” policies. (AP Photo)
Iran receives more than $10 billion in one deal State Council Sanctions waivers allow Iraq to continue buying energy from Iran, which the Biden administration says is necessary to keep the lights on in Baghdad.
November: Hezbollah and Israel sign ceasefire agreement
This fall, Israel refocused much of its efforts against Hezbollah after the Lebanese militant group launched a series of cross-border attacks. Israel has targeted Hezbollah’s leadership, detonating hundreds of pagers used by the group to communicate. At the end of November, Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire, and both Hezbollah and Israel must end their armed presence in southern Lebanon.
Both sides claim the other has broken the fragile truce, which has ostensibly remained in place for weeks.
December: Assad’s fall
Syrian rebels dispatched the Quds Force, an extension of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, on the run as they captured Damascus and ousted President Bashar al-Assad. Iranian troops have been supporting Assad in Syria since the civil war broke out in 2011, but have been weakened since wars broke out elsewhere in the Middle East.
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Syria’s new government will be led by Sunni Muslims who are hostile to Iran’s Shia government. Iran has lost a vital supply line through Syria that it had used to arm Hezbollah against Israel.
