Iran’s plans in Syria hint at goal of establishing powerful Shiite ‘Red Crescent’

Iran’s top military officer signed agreements in Syria last month that will keep Iranian forces there indefinitely with a pledge to help the Bashar Assad regime rebuild damaged military bases, according to the main opposition group to Tehran’s Islamic rulers.

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Russia threatens to veto new UN Syria resolution, Aleppo evacuations in doubt

Russia threatened Sunday to veto a U.N. resolution demanding immediate access to areas of Aleppo besieged by the Syrian government, while a shaky deal to evacuate thousands of trapped civilians was thrown into doubt again after militants burned buses involved in the rescue operation.

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Fall of Aleppo marks new, uncertain phase of Syrian civil war

The rout of Syrian rebels by the Russian-backed forces of President Bashar Assad in the city of Aleppo likely marks the beginning of the end of the civil war that has ravaged the country for more than 5 years and led to the unprecedented slaughter of hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped by the fighting.

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Syrian army on verge of major victory in Aleppo

The Syrian army and its allies made key gains in the embattled city of Aleppo late on Tuesday. President Bashar al-Assad’s forces pushed into rebel-held areas of the Old City, essentially driving opposition forces out of their last urban stronghold.

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Hospitals in Aleppo ‘all but obliterated’; civilians in ‘living hell,’ U.N. warns

Civilians in the rebel-held portions of Aleppo are enduring a “living hell” and the hospitals there have been all but obliterated, the United Nations warned Sunday as bomb attacks continued to hit the city.

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War Rages in Aleppo As Ceasefire Collapses

Syrian forces pounded rebel-held eastern Aleppo on Sunday, killing at least 85 people and wounding more than 300 others, an activist group reported. The bombardment destroyed residential centers, overwhelmed hospitals and angered diplomats meeting at the United Nations.

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