Iran's top cleric Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the resistance movement is far from over after developments in Syria, predicting that it is Israel that will ultimately be eradicated, his official website reported.
In an address to only women on December 17, he said the enemies think the Iranian-led resistance has been quashed after the events in Syria with the fall of the Assad regime, which he attributed to the "crimes" of Israel, the United States and their allies.
Khamenei warned that any Israeli attempts to target Hezbollah through Syria would lead to Israel's own destruction while pledging continued support for regional resistance movements.
"The Zionist regime is preparing itself through Syria, in their imagination, to besiege and eradicate Hezbollah, but it is Israel that will be eradicated," Khamenei said in a speech to thousands in Tehran.
Addressing Assad's fall, he dismissed claims of the resistance axis's weakening: "With the events that occurred in Syria, and with the crimes of the Zionist (Israel) regime and America and others' help to them, enemies thought the resistance issue was finished, but they are deeply mistaken."
He went on to praise the former leaders of both Hamas and Hezbollah, following their deaths at the hands of Israeli airstrikes.
"The spirit of Sayed Hassan Nasrallah and Sinwar lives on. Their physical bodies may have gone, but martyrdom did not remove them from existence - their spirit and thought remain, and their path continues," Khamenei said, referring to resistance movement leaders.
Highlighting ongoing regional resistance, he noted "Gaza's steadfastness against daily Zionist attacks" and Lebanon's continued resistance. Iran would stand "alongside Palestinian fighters and Hezbollah mujahideen," he said, adding that he hoped "fighters will see the day when the malicious enemy is trampled under their feet."
He criticised Western capitalists and their affiliated politicians, accusing them of using influential global media to "hide their criminal and corrupting motives behind philosophical and humanitarian facades" regarding women's issues.
Khamenei concluded by affirming Iran's continued support for Palestinian fighters and Hezbollah, expressing hope that "fighters will see the day when the malicious enemy is trampled under their feet."
According to flight data on December 8, verified by IntelliNews, at least two planes, one a private jet and a second Cham Wings commercial airliner, departed from Damascus for Abu Dhabi, which casts doubt on comments he fled with Russian assistance. The former president was believed to be on the initial flight to Abu Dhabi before changing planes. The UAE has not commented on those flights.