Tehran:

 Syria’s newly appointed foreign minister, Asaad Hassan al-Shibani, told Iran on Tuesday not to spread chaos in Syria but to respect the Syrian people’s will and the country’s sovereignty.

In a post on X, Shibani said: “Iran must respect the will of the Syrian people and the country’s sovereignty and security. We warn them from spreading chaos in Syria and we hold them accountable for the repercussions of the latest remarks.”

He did not specify the remarks he was referring to.

In a televised speech on Sunday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Syrian youth to “stand with firm determination against those who have orchestrated and brought about this insecurity”.

“We predict that a strong and honorable group will also emerge in Syria because today Syrian youth have nothing to lose. Their schools, universities, homes, and streets are unsafe,” Khameini said.

He added: “Therefore, they must stand firmly with determination against the planners and executors of insecurity and prevail over them.”

Syrian rebels ousted President Bashar al-Assad on Dec. 8 after a 13-year civil war.

Iran spent billions of dollars propping up Assad during the war and deployed its Revolutionary Guards to Syria to keep its ally in power.

Assad’s overthrow is widely seen as a major blow to the Iran-led “Axis of Resistance” political and military alliance that opposes Israeli and U.S. influence in the Middle East.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Syria’s new rulers have appointed a foreign minister, the official Syrian news agency (SANA) said on Saturday, as they seek to build international relations two weeks after Bashar al-Assad was ousted.

The ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability”.

No details were immediately available about Shibani.

Syria’s de facto ruler, Ahmed al-Sharaa, has actively engaged with foreign delegations since assuming power, including hosting the UN’s Syria envoy and senior US diplomats.

Sharaa has signaled a willingness to engage diplomatically with international envoys, saying his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development. He has said he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.

The United States, other Western powers and many Syrians were glad to see rebel groups led by Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) topple Assad, but it is not clear whether the Islamist group will impose strict Islamic rule or show flexibility and move towards democracy. HTS was part of al Qaeda until Sharaa broke ties with it in 2016.

Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.

Forces under the command of Sharaa – better known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani – installed a three-month caretaker government that had been ruling a rebel enclave in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib.

Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.

The war killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)