In his first address since the toppling of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei excoriated the United States and Israel.

After the routing by Israel of Hamas and Hizbullah, its two main proxies in the region, the fall of Mr Assad, its third, is a further sign of Iran’s waning influence. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, likes to say that his country is nearing its ghaleh, or zenith. But he must wonder whether it is already behind him.