Iranian officials celebrated the impending defeat of militants in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Wednesday, saying it showed that Tehran had become the leading power in the region.

Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan rang his Syrian counterpart Fahd Jassem al-Freij to congratulate him on the “victories of the Syrian army and resistance forces in liberating the city of Aleppo from the hands of Takfiri terrorists.”

Officials in Tehran say the offensive has underlined Iran’s increasing influence.

“The coalition between Iran, Russia, Syria and Hezbollah led to the liberation of Aleppo and will next liberate Mosul (in Iraq),” said Yahya Safavi, top foreign policy adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Safavi, a former head of the Revolutionary Guards, said a clear message was being sent to the incoming US president, Donald Trump, who has vowed to take a tougher line with Iran.

“The new American president must accept the reality that Iran is the leading power in the region,” the Guards’ Sepahnews website quoted him as saying.

Source: Agencies