Syria's new leader, Ahmed Al-Sharaa, has declared that the opposition's victory has "set back Iran's regional project by 40 years" while pledging that Syria will no longer serve as a platform for destabilising Arab states.

Iran's influence across the region has been massively scaled back in recent months following the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas against Israel, who fought back, taking out the top leadership of both groups, attacking Iranian bases in Syria and also striking Iran. 

Speaking from the Presidential Palace in Damascus, Al-Sharaa told Arabic-language Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper that Syria had previously become "a platform for Iran to control key Arab capitals, spread wars, and destabilise the Gulf with drugs like Captagon."

"By removing Iranian militias and closing Syria to Iranian influence, we've served the region's interests—achieving what diplomacy and external pressure could not, with minimal losses," Al-Sharaa said in his most detailed interview since assuming leadership.

The Syrian leader criticised previous attempts to rehabilitate Assad's regime, including its return to the Arab League, revealing that when Jordanian officials confronted the former government about Captagon exports, "the response was that it would not stop unless sanctions were lifted."

Looking forward, Al-Sharaa expressed particular interest in Saudi Arabia's development model: "We admire the development in Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia's bold plans and vision, and we aspire to achieve similar progress for Syria."

The leader addressed concerns about his current residence in the People's Palace, the former seat of Assad's power, saying with a laugh: "To be honest, I don't feel comfortable at all. But this is a place that should be open to the people, a site where they can visit and where children can play in these courtyards."

On domestic policy, Al-Sharaa announced plans for a dedicated ministry to investigate the fate of missing persons, acknowledging the scale of atrocities under the previous regime.

This comes as Channel 4 reported that at least 150,000 people were buried in mass graves around Damascus, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights places the total death toll since 2011 at 618,000.

"We fought a brutal group that committed crimes including arrests, forced disappearances, killings, displacement, starvation, chemical attacks, and systematic torture," he said, stressing that while perpetrators must face justice, the approach should not be revenge-based.