⭕️ Qassem Soleimani reportedly warned Assad about former adviser Luna al-Shibl

New reporting from Al-Majalla, coinciding with the circulation of leaked videos by Al-Hadath and Al-Arabiya, has revived scrutiny over the late special advisor to Bashar al-Assad, Luna al-Shibl, and her uneasy standing within the Assad government.

According to Al-Majalla, a document containing the full Arabic trannoscript of a late 2019 exchange shows the late IRGC Quds Force General Qassem Soleimani confronting Syria’s National Security Bureau chief Ali Mamlouk after seeing Shibl leave his office. Soleimani reportedly pressed Mamlouk repeatedly, asking not just “Who is this?” but “Who is she really, where did she work?” He then pointed to the stark contrast between her former $10,000 salary and her modest government salary in Damascus, asking rhetorically, “Does it make sense for someone to leave ten thousand dollars for five hundred thousand Syrian pounds? She is a spy.” Both Soleimani and Maher al-Assad are said to have issued earlier warnings about her.

Shibl had quit a prestigious journalism career at Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera to become Assad’s media advisor, a move that long raised questions about her rapid ascent inside the Assad government.

These revelations come amid lingering questions surrounding Shibl’s death in July 2024. While officials described it as a routine traffic accident on the Damascus, Dimas highway, photos of her armored BMW showed only minor damage, prompting immediate doubts. Eyewitnesses told Al-Majalla that a car intentionally rammed her vehicle and that a man struck her on the back of the head before fleeing, an attack that caused paralysis and ultimately led to her death. Her bodyguard, who attempted to recount what happened, was reportedly detained on the spot.

In July 2024, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that there had been "growing dissatisfaction" with her within the government, noting accusations that she had leaked minutes of closed meetings between Assad and Iranian officials. According to the monitor, Syrian intelligence detained her brother after Israel struck the Iranian consulate in Damascus in April 2024, on charges of communicating with a hostile party.