Aleppo Recapture Prelude to Bigger Syrian Victories 

The spokesman of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said the liberation of Aleppo heralds the end of pain of all Syrian people who suffered at the hands of foreign-backed fighters, as Syrian forces and allies are pushing deeper into the last remaining militant-held parts of the northwestern city.

"The liberation of Aleppo is a prelude to major victories of the Syrian Army in cleansing the country of takfiri terrorists," Hossein Naqavi Hosseini told ICANA on Tuesday.

Takfiris are hardliners who accuse Muslims who do not believe in their extreme interpretation of Islam as apostates punishable by death.  

Aleppo was Syria's most populous city before the six-year conflict, which pitted the Syrian Army against foreign-backed fighters in their attempt to bring down the system that has cost hundreds of thousands of Syrian lives so far.

"The Syrian nation and an array of Damascus' allies have taken the prize of resistance against western-backed terrorists in Aleppo," Hosseini said.

Russia has been lending airpower to the counter-terror push in Syria since last September and Iran has been providing Syrian troops with advisory assistance since the early months of the conflict.

The Syrian Army began in mid-November its offensive to retake the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo, where the Al-Qaeda affiliated Jabhat Al-Nusra terrorist group (recently rebranded to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham) and its allied armed groups were in control.

The lawmaker pointed to claims against the Syrian forces and said the self-proclaimed defenders of human rights, who ignored the crimes of terrorists in Aleppo in the past four years, are now concerned over the success of the Syrian Army.

  Psychological Warfare

"Supporters of takfiri terrorists are trying to undermine the Aleppo operation through psychological warfare, but they will fail," the legislator said.

During the government's drive to restore its control over the city, foreign-backed fighters have been indiscriminately shelling government-held parts of the city.

Hosseini said Washington and other sponsors of militants are angry over the recent achievements of the Syrian forces and may make desperate moves to reverse the course of battle.

"[But] regional [and trans-regional] supporters of terrorists should accept the reality and the power of resistance forces [and stop their support], as they will not gain anything from the continuation of this war," he said.

Since the start of the Aleppo battle, some 130,000 people have managed to reach government-controlled parts, an observer group has reported.

On Monday, soldiers in government-held districts started to fire into the air and car drivers honked their horns in celebration at the imminent victory, Syria's state television showed.

Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman, told reporters on Tuesday that Washington is deeply concerned about the situation in Aleppo, and the US has not been successful in its efforts to "end the bombing" of Aleppo.

However, Earnest said the administration "continues to be interested in trying to find a diplomatic solution to the situation", because "we know there is not a military solution that can be imposed in this situation".