Speaking on state television, Ayatollah Khamenei claimed there was “evidence” of the two countries’ involvement.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, claimed on Wednesday that the collapse of the Syrian government was the result of a coordinated effort by the US and Israel.
“There should be no doubt that what has happened in Syria is the result of a joint American and Zionist plan,” Khamenei said on state TV. “We have evidence, and this evidence leaves no room for doubt.”
He also alleged involvement by a neighbouring country, but did not specify which he was talking about.
“A neighbouring state of Syria has played a clear role in this matter, and it continues to do so. Everyone can see this.”
The rapid fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government came after a surprise rebel offensive that swept across Syria starting in late November.
Opposition forces rapidly captured a sequence of major cities, including Aleppo, Hama, Homs, and eventually the capital, Damascus, meeting little resistance as the Syrian army disintegrated.
On 8 December, Syrian state television broadcast a video statement by a group of men announcing that al-Assad had been overthrown and all prisoners released.
Russian officials and Iranian state media confirmed that al-Assad had left Syria, and Russian news agencies reported shortly afterward that he and his family had arrived in Moscow and been granted asylum.
Over a decade of conflict
Syria’s 13-year conflict began in 2011 when anti-government protests were brutally suppressed.
The civil war that followed claimed nearly half a million lives and displaced half of Syria’s prewar population of 23 million.
Backed by allies Iran and Russia, al-Assad gradually regained control of much of the country, leaving opposition groups confined to the northwest.
However, in late November, opposition forces led by the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham launched a large-scale offensive.
With the regime’s traditional allies embroiled in other conflicts — in particular Russia’s war in Ukraine and ongoing hostilities between Israel and Iran — al-Assad received little support to shore up his power.
Syria’s prime minister, Mohammed Ghazi Jalali, has announced the new government’s is ready to “extend its hand” to an opposition-led administration.