Assad’s forces take over Aleppo amid fears of ‘catastrophe’
The advances have sent hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilians fleeing toward the border with Turkey
Government forces have been fighting since the start of the year to recapture the Aleppo countryside
Updated 18 February 2020
MENEKSE TOKYAY
ANKARA: Syria’s Bashar Assad on Monday made a TV pledge to press on with his military campaign to take full control of Aleppo as the UN called for an immediate cease-fire to prevent “the biggest humanitarian horror story of the 21st century.”
Assad’s forces claimed to have taken complete control of dozens of towns in Aleppo’s northwestern countryside following advances that have resulted in the displacement of 900,000 people.
In a rare televised address, Assad said that the one-time economic hub of Aleppo would “return stronger than it was before,” and vowed complete victory “sooner or later.”
The ongoing campaign has sparked a humanitarian catastrophe, which the UN’s head of humanitarian affairs, Mark Lowcock, warned had “reached a horrifying level.”
In a statement, he said the UN believed 900,000 civilians had been displaced since Dec. 1, most of them women and children.
In the past few weeks, regime troops backed by Russian air power have captured more than 1,500 sq. km. of ground in the northwest of the country.
Lowcock described the violence taking place in northwest Syria as “indiscriminate” and stressed that “the only option is a cease-fire.”
He warned that “the biggest humanitarian horror story of the 21st century will only be avoided if (UN) Security Council members, and those with influence, overcome individual interests and put a collective stake in humanity first.”
He did not identify any countries, but the message appeared directed first and foremost at Russia.
The regime also announced the reopening of Aleppo international airport. Regime forces have also opened the international roadway from northern Aleppo to the towns of Zahraa and Nubl toward the Turkish border. Their rapid advances have sparked rare clashes between Syria and Turkey.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Assad to halt the advance, which also risks shattering an alliance forged between Turkey and Russia. A Turkish delegation was in Moscow on Monday to discuss the crisis, and Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said the delegations would continue talking on Tuesday.
During Monday’s session, the Turkish delegation “stressed the need to quickly reduce tensions on the field and to prevent the further deterioration of the humanitarian situation,” the ministry said.
Yoruk Isik, an Istanbul-based expert on Turkey-Russia relations, predicted a period of de-escalation in Idlib in the coming few months after the conclusion of consultations between the parties.
He told Arab News that Russian President Vladimir Putin had deliberately stayed away from such negotiations to push Ankara into direct talks with the Assad regime. Isik expected Turkey to withdraw from five observation points in Idlib.
He also said the creation of a buffer zone along the Turkish border was also likely so that Turkey could manage to settle hundreds of thousands of displaced people to Syria’s Afrin province, which would completely change the demography of the region.
Trump says ‘someone from within’ Iranian regime might be best choice to lead once war ends
Trump had earlier called on Iranians to “take over your government” once the war US-Israel strikes end
He now appears to drift away from the idea of putting an end Iran's theocratic rule
Updated 54 min 21 sec ago
AP
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that “someone from within” the Iranian regime might be the best choice to take power once the US-Israel military campaign is completed — but said “most of the people we had in mind are dead.”
The president, who four days ago had emphatically called on Iranians to “take over your government” once the US-Israel bombardment ends, appeared to drift further away from the idea that the war presents an opportunity to end the theocratic rule that has been in place since the country’s 1979 Islamic revolution.
Trump said that many Iranian officials his administration had viewed as potential new leaders for the country had been killed in the US-Israeli campaign that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and many other top officials.
Trump has not publicly identified anyone whom he views as a credible future leader for Iran. And it’s unclear what, if any, outreach the White House had with Iranian officials since the war started.
“Most of the people we had in mind are dead,” he said in an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office. “Now we have another group, they may be dead also, based on reports. So you have a third wave coming. Pretty soon we’re not going to know anybody.”
Trump said Reza Pahlavi, the exiled crown prince of Iran’s last shah who is trying to position himself for a return should Iran’s Shiite theocracy fall, is not someone that his administration has considered in depth to take over leadership in Iran.
“It would seem to me that somebody from within maybe would be more appropriate,” Trump said, adding that it may make sense for “somebody that’s there, that’s currently popular, if there is such a person” to emerge from the power vacuum.
People hold images of Reza Pahlavi during a 'Freedom for Iran' rally in Times Square on March 2, 2026 in New York, New York. (Getty Images/AFP)
Trump’s comments came as he hosted German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for his first in-person engagement with a foreign leader since the US and Israel launched the war against Iran.
Trump said he wanted to avoid a “worst case” scenario where “somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person.”
“That could happen. We don’t want that to happen,” Trump added. “You go through this, and then in five years you realize you put somebody in who was no better.” The White House is trying to counter criticism
The White House has stepped up its push to counter criticism that it moved unnecessarily quickly to launch a war of choice against Iran.
Trump’s decision to strike last week followed lengthy negotiations by the president’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner with the Iranians — talks the US increasingly viewed as an effort to stall any progress.
After the most recent round of discussions in Geneva, Switzerland, last week, Witkoff and Kushner told Trump that reaching a nuclear agreement similar to one that former President Barack Obama struck in 2015 was possible, according to a senior administration official.
The official, who briefed journalists on condition of anonymity, described it as a potential “Obama-plus deal” and Witkoff and Kushner believed such an agreement would take months, but was possible.
Still, even as they expressed their willingness to pursue diplomacy and “fight for every point that we can” if that’s what Trump wanted, the negotiators stressed to the president that the Iranians were not willing to make a deal that would be satisfactory to the US Trump snaps at the UK, Spain over lack of support
Meanwhile, Trump sharply criticized Britain and Spain for their reluctance to aid the US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
“This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,” Trump fumed about British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Starmer had initially blocked American planes from using British bases for the attacks on Iran that started on Saturday. He later agreed to let the United States use bases in England and on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean to strike Iran’s ballistic missiles and their storage sites, but not to hit other targets.
Trump also said he was going to “cut off all trade with Spain,” the day after Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said his country would not allow the US to use jointly operated bases in southern Spain in any strikes not covered by the United Nations’ charter. Trump disputes that Israel forced his hand
The president also sought to push back on criticism from some of his staunchest allies over the decision to go to war — questions that grew louder after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that the US had decided to strike because “we knew that there was going to be an Israeli action.”
“And we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties,” Rubio said.
But Trump rejected the notion that the White House had been dragged into the conflict by Israel. “We were having negotiations with these lunatics, and it was my opinion that they were going to attack,” Trump said. “If anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand.”
Rubio on Tuesday echoed Trump’s insistence that the decision to attack Iran was made independent of Israel.
Merz said during his visit with Trump at the Oval Office that Germany is “looking forward to the day after” the Iran war is over.
He said Berlin wants to work with the US on a strategy for when the current Iranian government no longer exists.
“We are having a high interest in common approach and common work and what we can do,” Merz said. “And this is this is important not just for the Americans,” he said. “This is extremely important for Europe and extremely important for Israel and their security.”
Merz also noted surging oil prices were damaging the world economy, laying down an argument for finding a quick endgame to the conflict.
The president acknowledged that oil and gas prices were going to rise as the US remains engaged in the strikes — yet argued it would be fleeting.
“We have a little high oil prices for a little while, but as soon as this ends, those prices are going to drop, I believe, lower than even before,” Trump said.
The average price for a gallon of gasoline in the US jumped 11 cents overnight Tuesday to about $3.11 in the United States, according to the AAA.
