Iran’s top general says Russia is actually bombing empty deserts while also attacking Syrian rebels

• Iranian General Behrouz Esbati blames Russia in part for the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

• In a speech in Tehran, Esparti accused Russia of bombing an empty desert instead of fighting Syrian rebels.

• While difficult to verify, his candid remarks are noteworthy because Russia is one of Iran’s strongest allies.

A top Iranian general has accused Russia of lying to Tehran, saying its warplanes were attacking Syrian rebels while Russia was bombing the open desert.

The Iranian brigadier general made a rare break with Iran’s diplomatic line on Syria. In a speech at a mosque in Tehran, General Behruz Esbaty placed some of the blame on Moscow for the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government.

On Tuesday, Abdullah Abdi, a Geneva-based journalist who covers Iran, released a recording of the speech.

“We were defeated, and we were defeated very hard. We were hit very hard, and it was very difficult,” Esparti said of Assad’s fall, according to a New York Times translation.

Esparti, a senior commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said in the recording that Russia told Tehran it was bombing the headquarters of Tahrir al-Sham, the rebel group that led the charge to overthrow Assad.

But Esparti said Moscow’s army was targeting “the desert”.

Esparti further accused Russia of turning off radar when Israel launched an attack on Syria in 2024, allowing Tel Aviv forces to launch attacks more effectively.

The general also blamed Assad’s fall largely on internal corruption and said bribery among senior Syrian officials and generals was widespread.

He added that relations between Damascus and Tehran became tense last year after Assad rejected Iran’s request to attack Israel through Syria.

Business Insider was unable to independently verify Esparti’s claims. But they represent an unusually frank assessment from Iran’s top leadership of its position in Syria, where new political leadership is still coalescing in Assad’s absence.

As Assad’s government collapsed, Iranian officials struck a much softer tone, saying at the time that Syria’s fate would depend on its people and that “no effort will be spared to help Syria establish security and stability.”

Assad, a long-time ally of Iran and Russia, fled Damascus in early December as Tahrir al-Sham forces stormed the capital from the northwest. International observers believe the rebel offensive comes as Moscow, Assad’s main source of military strength, finds its resources stretched by the war in Ukraine.

The Russian Defense Ministry did not respond to BI’s request for comment outside normal business hours.

Esparti’s comments came as a former top aide to Assad told Saudi Arabia’s government-owned Al Arabiya television on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had halted military aid to Syria.

Kamal Saqr said Assad had asked Putin to personally approve airlifts of military aid to Syria, and the Russian leader had agreed.

The aid will be transported via Iranian aircraft, but Saqr said Tehran told Assad it had not received any request from Moscow.

Assad then asked Moscow about the incident, but “received no response,” Saqr said.

Neither Moscow nor Tehran has taken steps to prevent Assad’s fall, which has far-reaching consequences for Russian forces in the region. Moscow has previously relied on an air base and a naval base, which it maintains under an agreement with Assad, for operations in Africa and the Mediterranean.

It is unclear whether Russia will eventually be able to continue maintaining the two facilities, but reports indicate that Russia is preparing to move much of the equipment out of Syria. On Friday, Ukraine said Moscow planned to move its assets to Libya.

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