Syria’s interim president said Iranian militias that previously operated in the country were not only harmful to it, but also a threat to the wider region.

The president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, led the rebel group that seized control of Syria in December, ousting dictator Bashar al-Assad and the Iranian forces that supported him.

In a wide-ranging interview on Syrian television, Sharaa said Iranian forces were used to “fuel instability” in Syria and other neighboring states.

“The presence of Iranian militias under the previous [Syrian] regime posed a strategic threat to the entire region,” said Sharaa.

Iran’s once strong presence in Syria has almost entirely vanished. Iranian forces fled as Assad was overthrown in December, and the country’s embassy in Damascus remains shuttered.

It’s just one in a series of major setbacks Iran’s proxy forces have suffered over the past year. Israel has battered Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Israel and the U.S. have been hitting the Houthis in Yemen.

Sharaa’s remarks highlight the efforts by his transitional government to realign Syria’s relations with much of the world. For decades under Assad, Syria relied heavily on Iran and Russia and was isolated from the West.

The new Syrian leader is pushing hard to rebuild ties that were badly strained or broken, starting with his neighbors.