Syria latest: Syrian rebel fighters set fire to tomb of Bashar al-Assad’s father

On our way to Damascus’ main Umayyad Square, I meet Abul Hammam, a Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighter, and his cousin Mohammad.

They hug each other tightly, meeting after 15 years apart.

Abul Hammam, 30, originally from Damascus, says he was
fighting in Aleppo for years at the beginning of the Syrian revolution where he
joined HTS. He has been in Azerbaijan for some years.

I speak to him in Azeri a little.

“Your name is Arabic but you are not Arab. Where are you
from?” he asks me.

I cautiously tell him that I am originally from Iran’s West
Azerbaijan.

He smiles, saying: “Many of our ancestors are from Balkan
and old Soviet Union countries near Iran. I like Iranian people but not the
regime. We fought with them.”

He goes on to ask me whether I am a Christian – I smile, trying to
avoid talking about religion. He continues: “May I give you a brotherly nice advice? Do
you have headscarf?”

I say yes I have it with me.

“I think you will be nicer if you wear it as a Muslim
woman,” he says.

Out of respect and for security reasons I take my headscarf
and cover a part of my hair similar to how I would wear it in Iran.

“If you bring it further and cover all, it will [be] much
better,” Hammam adds.

We’ll have more on Nafiseh’s reaction to the exchange shortly.