The militant group’s leader admits that the toppling of Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, cut off an important land route from Iran.

The loss of the route through Syria is a blow to the Lebanese militia and its most important ally, Tehran.

The ascendance of Sunni Islamist rebels in Syria should be viewed with great caution by Western powers, but the Assad regime’s collapse disables a critical node in Iran’s regional proxy network, a counterterrorism expert explains.

Hezbollah head Naim Qassem said on Saturday that the Lebanese armed group had lost its supply route through Syria, in his first comments since the toppling of President Bashar al-Assad nearly a week ago by a sweeping rebel offensive.

The leader of the Lebanese Iran-backed Hezbollah militia, Naim Qassem, on Saturday admitted that his group had lost a supply route after the overthrow of the allied regime of Bashar al-Assad in neighbouring Syria.

Follow the latest on Syria For years, Hezbollah broadly castigated the Syrian rebels opposed to president Bashar Al Assad, labelling them terrorists as the Lebanese armed group sent thousands of fighters to prop up the regime in the neighbouring country.

In his first address after Syria's regime change, Hezbollah's Naim Qassem admits losing key supply routes but declares the resistance against Israel remains unshaken. With hopes pinned on Syria's new leadership to stand against Israel,