Syrian rebels advance towards Damascus, topple statues of Assad's father, brother
India TodayPresident Bashar al-Assad used Russian and Iranian firepower to beat back rebel forces during years of civil war but never defeated them, leaving him vulnerable when his allies were distracted by wars elsewhere and his enemies went on the march. Assad became president in 2000 after his father Hafez died, preserving the dominance of their Alawite sect in the Sunni Muslim-majority country and Syria's status as an Iranian ally hostile to Israel and the US. Branded an "animal" in 2018 by US President Donald Trump for using chemical weapons - an accusation he denied - Assad has outlasted many of the foreign leaders who believed his demise was imminent in the early days of the conflict, when he lost swathes of Syria to rebels. The conflict's sectarian edge was hardened by the arrival of Iranian-backed Shi'ite fighters from across the Middle East to support Assad, and as Sunni Muslim-led states including Turkey and Qatar backed the rebels. While Iran stood by Assad, the United States failed to enforce its own "red line" - set by President Barack Obama in 2012 against the use of chemical weapons.