TEHRAN – Iran says it is closely monitoring the behavior of militants who forced Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power, stressing that their disassociation from Israel is critical to Tehran’s approach towards the new rulers in Damascus.
“Their distance from the Zionist regime is one of the factors that is important to us,” Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said.
 She said Tehran is closely monitoring developments in Syria, and is eagerly awaiting to see the “behavior and performance” of the ruling armed groups before deciding on an approach toward the Arab country.
Mohajerani said Iran’s investments in Syria have been in line with its “national interests”, and that Assad’s government collapsed because he failed to engage in talks with his own people and his army lacked any incentive to fight for him.
“We have had longstanding relations with Syria, in terms of both culture and civilization. Our traders would travel to the Levant from much older times, so our ties with Syria have a long history. We hope that what is ahead is what is good for the people of Syria and we wish them the best,” she said.
Mohajerani also stated that thousands of Iranians have been brought home from Syria since the overthrow of Assad.
“Over the past three days, 4,000 Iranian citizens returned to Iran,” she said, asserting they left on 10 flights organized by the Tehran-based private airline Mahan Air.
She added that Iran would keep up its efforts “until the departure of the last Iranian” in Syria. Around 10,000 Iranian citizens have been living in Syria in recent years, according to official figures.