An account purportedly belonging to the wife of former President Bashar al-Assad, Asma al-Assad, posted a series of tweets on the X platform on Sunday, in what seems to be Asma’s first comments since the fall of the Assad regime in Syria in December. 

Asma appeared on X on Sunday saying that she had always been “committed to silence” regarding political issues over the past years, and that she would continue not to intervene in politics in the future.

“After a period of silence, it is time to start anew. Hope and change are constant; let’s begin together,” she wrote in another tweet.

“Syria, with all its beauty and ancient history, remains in our hearts,” the former first lady added, while wishing the Syrian people “safety and prosperity.”

“بعد فترة من الصمت، حان الوقت للانطلاق من جديد. الأمل والتغيير لا يتوقفان، فلنبدأ معًا.”

— Asma Al Assad – أسماء الأسد (@AsmaFAlAkhras) February 16, 2025

During the Assad rule, Asma was active on social media, posting photos and videos of her engaging in humanitarian activities, including visits to orphanages and interactions with people on the ground, at a time the regime was under criticism for its brutal crackdown against peaceful protesters and human rights violations.

Asma was born to Syrian parents in London in 1975. She holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from King’s College in London and worked in investment banking in the City of London financial district.

Asma moved to Syria in 2000 and married Bashar in December of that year, months after he became president (in July 2000). The couple has three children, Hafez, Zein and Karim. In late December 2024, after the Assad family fled to Russia, reports emerged that Asma had filed for divorce from her husband, which the Kremlin denied.

Asma’s alleged new account was revealed by a fake account on the Telegram channel attributed to her son, Hafez al-Assad, where a video of Hafez in the streets of Moscow was published earlier on Sunday.

There has been wide speculation about the authenticity of Asma’s and Hafez’ accounts on social media.

Last Tuesday, an account bearing the name of @HafezBAlAssad was suspended from X for violating the social media site’s rules, including a ban on accounts run by “perpetrators of terrorist, violent extremist or mass violent attacks.”

Before it was suspended, Hafez had described his family’s last days in Damascus before the rebel takeover Dec. 8. He claimed his family did not initially plan to leave Syria, but eventually decided to head to the Russian Khmeimim air base in Latakia upon the directives of a Russian official, from where they were planning to move to a presidential property in the Burj Islam area about 40 kilometers (24 miles) north of the base.

But, he continued, due to the deployment of rebels in the area and ensuing chaos, the family fled to Moscow on board a Russian military plane.

These claims seemed to corroborate with an earlier statement said to be written by Bashar and released on the Syrian presidency’s Telegram channel Dec. 16.

In the statement, Bashar denied planning their departure from Syria during the battles in Damascus, and said they moved to the Russian base in Latakia to “oversee combat operations.”

But, the statement read, “Moscow requested that the base’s command arrange an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday Dec. 8,” after it came under drone attacks.

Three days after Hafez’s X account was suspended, another account allegedly belonging to Bashar’s elder son emerged Feb. 13, with him tweeting, “Three days ago, the X platform banned my account a few hours after publishing the first post. I made several attempts to recover the account, but the platform administration refused to reactivate it without giving a clear reason.”

“All accounts that bear my name on the X platform are currently fake, except for this one that I will post from,” he added.

In a series of tweets on Sunday, Hafez said the “truth” will come out soon.

“Time will tell. Soon, there will be videos explaining everything that happened, to clarify the facts,” he wrote in one post.

In another post, Hafez said the “full story” will be revealed soon in a podcast that will share all the facts.

“قريبًا، ستسمعون القصة كاملة من المصدر نفسه. حلقة بودكاست ستكشف كل التفاصيل.”

— Hafez B AlAssad – حافظ الاسد (@HafezBAlAssadd) February 16, 2025

Former President Assad and his family fled to Russia after the rebels, led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, arrived at the gates of Damascus Dec. 8 following the launch of a swift offensive from Idlib against government-held areas in Syria. The Kremlin said at the time that President Vladimir Putin had granted asylum to Assad and his family.  

The Assad family has ruled Syria with an iron fist since Hafez al-Assad assumed power in 1971. He was succeeded by his son Bashar after his death in 2000. In 2011, anti-regime protests began in southern Syria, to which government forces responded with violence, triggering a long and brutal civil war across the country.