Assad left Syria after giving orders to transfer power peacefully, says Russia - latest updates

Reuters

Situation in Syria creating new weakness for Hezbollah, Iran, says US envoy Hochstein

U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein said the situation in Syria, where rebels are pressing a rapid advance that is threatening President Bashar al-Assad's grip on power, was creating a new weakness for militant Lebanese group Hezbollah and for Iran. The U.S. envoy, who negotiated a U.S-brokered ceasefire agreement in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that went into effect on Nov. 27, said he believed Hezbollah was not yet eliminated but it was rather weakened. Iran has been a backer of Assad in Syria's long civil war, sending allied forces including Hezbollah and Iraqi militias to bolster the Syrian military.