January 10th, 2025: Iranian General Accuses Russia of Betrayal & Maduro’s Protest Problem
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What accusation did the Iranian General make against Russia?
It's Friday, 10 January. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. Today, we start in the Middle East with a bold accusation from a top Iranian general. Now, he claims that Russia turned on its allies in Syria's final days, faking airstrikes by bombing empty deserts while bragging about targeting rebels. Later in the show, the U.S. military launches its first strikes against the Houthis of the new year, targeting an underground weapons storage facility in Yemen. Plus, the latest from Venezuela, where opposition leaders are calling for mass protests ahead of President Maduro's inauguration for a third term. And in today's back of the brief, the president of Mexico is pushing back against President Trump after he proposed changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.
We'll begin with an update on Syria, as a top Iranian general issues a rare rebuke of their Russian allies, putting partial blame on the Putin regime for the sudden downfall of their ally Assad last month at the hands of Islamist rebels. Brigadier General Behrouz Esbadi, Iran's senior ranking general in Syria before Assad's overthrow, made the remarks during a surprisingly candid speech last week at a mosque in Tehran. He accused the Kremlin of directly lying to leaders in Tehran as the HTS-led offensive got underway back in late November, according to an exclusive report from the New York Times. Now, the Kremlin apparently told Iranian officials that Russian jets were conducting a bombing campaign to blunt the advances of the rebels, including strikes on HTS's headquarters. But it turned out the Russians were just putting on an elaborate show for their supposed allies in both Iran and Syria. I mean, seriously, if you can't trust Putin and his minions, well, what's the world coming to?
In reality, his body said that Russia was simply bombing the empty desert to make it look like they were standing in Assad's corner. But his body implied that Russia's treachery was, frankly, hardly a surprise. He further accused Russia of turning off critical radars inside Syria throughout 2024 when Israel launched airstrikes targeting Iranian military officials and militant infrastructure stationed in the country. By standing down the radars, he said Russia had enabled Israel's forces to attack much more effectively. The remarks, come as a former senior aide to Assad, said Monday that the Kremlin had stalled critical military assistance during the rebel uprising. The official said Assad had personally asked Vladimir Putin to approve airlifting military aid to Syria, and that was a request Putin reportedly agreed to.
But when Syrian officials asked the Iranian regime about the aid, which was supposed to be transported via Iranian aircraft, well, they said they never received any such request from Moscow. Assad then tried to follow up with the Kremlin, but received no answer. Sorry, nobody's home. The accounts from Isbadi and former members of Assad's inner circle offer a rare peek behind the curtain of Russia's Middle East alliances and how damaged they've become as a result, frankly, of their war on Ukraine. Still, his body put the lion's share of blame for the situation in Syria on the Assad regime itself, which he said had become marred by internal corruption. Well, I mean, it does sound like the Iranian regime is blaming everyone except, well, for the Iranian regime. The general added that relations between Damascus and Tehran became significantly strained over the past year after Assad refused multiple Iranian requests to facilitate attacks by Iranian-backed militias on Israel through Syria. But he also put some blame on his own country.
Oh, well, look at that. Breaking with Iran's diplomatic line regarding Assad's ouster. As Badi reportedly said, quote, I don't consider losing Syria something to be proud of. Well, here's an understatement. We were defeated and defeated very badly. We took a very big blow and it's been very difficult, end quote.
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