Chicago December 23, 2024
The fall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad was the crescendo of a remarkably bad year for the Iranian regime.
April: counter-attack on Israel fails to inflict damage
In April, Israel bombed the Iranian embassy in Syria, prompting Iran to strike back with more than 300 drones and missiles aimed into Israel.
May: president dies in helicopter crash
The late Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash while visiting a remote area.
July: top Hamas commander taken out
While Iran inaugurated a new president this summer, Israel infiltrated to take out Hamas commander Ismail Haniyeh while he was visiting Tehran for the inauguration.
October: Hamas head and architect of October 7 attack killed
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) took out Hamas head Yahya Sinwar after encountering him on a routine patrol in the Gaza city of Rafah. Sinwar was the mastermind behind the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and was one of the most wanted men of the war.
November: Hezbollah signs ceasefire with Israel
In the fall, Israel reoriented much of its efforts toward pummeling Hezbollah after a series of cross-border attacks from the Lebanese militant group. Israel targeted Hezbollah’s leadership and detonated hundreds of pagers the group had been using to communicate.
December: Assad falls
Syrian rebels sent Iran’s Quds forces, an extension of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, running as they captured Damascus and pushed out President Bashar al-Assad. Iran’s forces had been in Syria propping up Assad since civil war broke out in 2011, but had been diminished since the outbreak of war elsewhere in the Middle East.
