Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday the regaining of full control of the northern city of Aleppo was a victory for his Russian and Iranian allies as much as his own country.

In comments after meeting a senior Iranian delegation, Assad also said the battlefield successes were a “basic step on the road to ending terrorism in the whole of Syrian territory and creating the right circumstances for a solution to end the war.”

Russia’s airforce conducted hundreds of raids that pulverized rebel-held parts of Aleppo while Iranian backed militias, led by Lebanese Hezbollah militia, poured thousands of fighters to fight rebels along the city’s main frontlines.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Thursday the regaining of full control of the northern city of Aleppo was a victory for his Russian and Iranian allies as much as his own country.

In comments after meeting a senior Iranian delegation, Assad also said the battlefield successes were a “basic step on the road to ending terrorism in the whole of Syrian territory and creating the right circumstances for a solution to end the war”.

Russia’s airforce conducted hundreds of raids that pulverized rebel-held parts of Aleppo while Iranian backed militias, led by Lebanese Hezbollah militia, poured thousands of fighters to fight rebels along the city’s main frontlines.

The last group of civilians and rebels holed up in a small enclave is expected to leave in the next 24 hours, with the army and its allies seizing all of the city.