Syria’s Assad says rebel advance a bid to ‘redraw’ regional map according to US interests

Syria’s President Bashar Assad brands an Islamist-led offensive that has captured swaths of territory as a bid to redraw the map of the region in line with US interests.

His comments, made in a phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, came as the Syrian military and its ally Russia conducted deadly air raids on areas under Islamist and Turkish-backed rebel control.

Assad is backed by Russia and Iran, both of which have confirmed they will help his army fight back after the city of Aleppo fell out of government control.

“The terrorist escalation reflects the far-reaching goals of dividing the region and fragmenting the countries in it and redraw the map in line with the objectives of the United States and the West,” Assad says in a statement from his office.

Syria has been at war since Assad cracked down on democracy protests in 2011, and the conflict has since drawn in foreign powers and jihadists, and left 500,000 people dead.

With Assad’s army back in control of much of the country after years of shifting battle lines, the conflict had been mostly dormant until last week, when the Islamist-led rebel alliance launched the offensive.