After fleeing Damascus ahead of a rebel advance, Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and his family have arrived in Moscow and been granted political asylum, according to Russia state media.

The leader of the main rebel group, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, called the toppling of Assad a “victory for the entire Islamic nation” in his first public remarks in Damascus. The rebels — led by Jolani’s HTS group, which was formed out of an Al Qaeda affiliate — have said minorities will be protected.

Earlier, a US official told CNN the rebel successes mark the collapse of “Iran’s artifice” across the Middle East. The toppling of the Iran-backed Assad follows the decimation of key Tehran proxies Hezbollah and Hamas in conflicts with Israel over the past 14 months.
|SituationReport|