The jihadist offensive in Syria was launched in coordination with the US and Israel, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baghaei said on Monday. According to the diplomat, it is no coincidence that the terrorists attacked northern Syria right after Israel struck a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.

The Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) terrorist group (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra), along with allied militias, launched an assault on government-controlled territory in northern Syria last Wednesday. The jihadists seized a number of villages and towns in Aleppo, Idlib, and Hama provinces, and entered the city of Aleppo on Friday.

The initial offensive started on the same day the long-negotiated ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese-based militant group Hezbollah took effect. West Jerusalem reluctantly agreed to the ceasefire earlier in the week, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to “respond forcefully” to any violations on the part of Hezbollah.

“The concurrence of the recent developments in Syria with the ceasefire in Lebanon, and the statements of the American officials in this regard, indicate the existence of some kind of coordination and cooperation between the terrorists, the US, and the Zionist regime,” Baghaei said at a press briefing.