HTS leaders unlikely to become democratic rulers: London School of Economics professor

50 Salafist commanders promoted to senior military posts

TEHRAN - A professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics, says Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has effectively transported its old Idlib government to Damascus while mostly excluding secular and more moderately religious opposition groups.

Syrians rally against shrine desecration, HTS militants fire on protesters

Tens of thousands of Syrians took to the streets in Latakia, Tartus, Homs, Hama, and Qardaha on Wednesday to protest over the HTS militants’ desecration of an Alawite shrine in Aleppo, resulting in violent confrontations.

US removes bounty from HTS leader's head after diplomats visit Damascus

The US announced on Friday that Washington was removing the $10 million bounty offered for Hayat Tahrir Al Sham leader Ahmad Al Shara after a milestone meeting in Damascus.

There are reasons to doubt the sincerity of HTS’s moderate turn: analysis

TEHRAN - Sam Heller, an analyst and a fellow with Century International, doubts HTS, originally the Syrian vanguard of the Islamic State in Iraq and then al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, is sincere in its promising statements concerning running Syria in post-Assad Syria.

By Xavier Villar

Syria under Israeli control: Implications for sovereignty and regional balance

MADRID - Following the fall of Bashar al-Assad on December 8, Israeli forces have intensified their offensive in Syria.

A Libya or Sudan outcome possible in Syria without clear roadmap: analysis

TEHRAN - In a commentary published on Dec. 9, a Middle East security expert at Princeton University says once the Syrian opposition gets rid of their common enemy “and the process of shaping the future begins, their differences will surface, and it remains uncertain how reconcilable these differences will be.”

Russia says it has established contact with HTS

Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov says there has been direct contact with the political committee of HTS and Moscow, the TASS and Interfax news agencies have reported.

Iranian, Iraqi and Syrian foreign minister to gather in Baghdad Friday

TEHRAN - The foreign ministers of Iran, Iraq and Syria will meet in Baghdad on Friday to assess the attacks by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militants to the northwestern cities in Syria, a source told Al Mayadeen TV.