Khamenei's Envoy Visits Syria Amid Israeli Air Strikes on Damascus

Photo: Middle East Eye

Ali Larijani, the special envoy of Iran’s Supreme Leader, has arrived in Syria for high-level meetings, including discussions with President Bashar al-Assad, as Israel launched fresh air strikes on Damascus, the Syrian capital.

Ali Larijani was meeting with the head of Syria's Supreme National Security Council when a nearby building was hit with three air strikes, according to an unconfirmed report by the Jamaran news website in Iran, which added that Larijani was unhurt, The Caspian Post reports, citing Iranian media.

Several people were killed and injured on Thursday in Israeli airstrikes targeting two residential buildings in the suburbs of Syria's capital, Damascus.

Israel's military radio informed that the strikes targeted assets and the headquarters of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad.

While Israel has conducted airstrikes on Iran-linked targets in Syria for years, it has significantly intensified these operations following the October 7 attack last year by the Palestinian group Hamas, which ignited the Gaza war.

Larijani held talks with Hammouda Sabbagh, the Speaker of the Syrian People's Assembly on Thursday afternoon but Iran’s foreign ministry gave no detailed explanation of the itinerary and goals of his trip.

The special envoy, a senior advisor to Khamenei and a former parliament speaker, is no stranger to unofficial diplomacy. He previously played a central role in securing the 25-Year Iran-China Agreement, a controversial deal whose full terms were never publicly disclosed.

Bashar al-Assad, whose government survived a rebellion beginning in 2011 largely due to Iranian military and financial backing, occupies a pivotal position in Tehran’s regional security calculus.

Syria’s geographic proximity to Israel and Lebanon makes it a key base for Iran's Lebanese ally Hezbollah in its conflict with Israel.

Over the past year, Israeli strikes have repeatedly targeted Iranian-linked forces and infrastructure in Syria, with high-ranking Iranian and Hezbollah commanders among those killed.