Iran FM says Bashar al-Assad 'never asked' for Tehran's help against rebels

Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi said Sunday that ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad had "never asked" for Tehran's aid against the rebels that overtook Damascus in a lightning offensive.

"We were never asked for help," Araghchi said in a live interview on state television, adding that it was Syrian army's duty to counter the offensive, which on Sunday toppled Assad. Iran had backed the Syrian leader during his country's years-long war, in which forces of the Tehran-backed Hezbollah movement also supported the government.