In his first-ever televised interview, Abu Mohammed al-Joulani, the ringleader of Jabhat al-Nusra, ruled out peace talks with the Syrian government in Geneva and warned that Arab states should be cautious of the recent improvement of Iran-US ties.

“The battle is almost over, we have covered about 70 percent of it, and what's left is small. We will achieve victory soon,” he claimed in an exclusive interview with al-Jazeera’s Tayseer Allouni from an undisclosed location in Syria.

In contrary to al-Joulani’s claim, Syrian army troops stormed the rebel-held town of Talfita in October and after fierce fighting with al-Nusra terrorists, killed dozens of terrorists and regained the control of the town. Syrian army forces inflicting heavy losses on the foreign-backed terrorists and regained the full control of about 40 villages and opened Hama-Aleppo road in the same month.

Al-Joulani added that al-Nusra Front - designated by the UN, the US and other western countries as a terrorist organization - would not accept the outcome of the upcoming international conference in Geneva scheduled for January.

For the interview with al-Jazeera, al-Joulani asked that his face be hidden because of security fears. Little is known about the al-Qaeda leader, but it is believed that he had joined the extremist group several years ago to fight in Iraq.

“If the Assad regime remained in power, which is in the interest of the super powers and ..., then the next target will be the Arabian Peninsula, now known as Saudi Arabia.”

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to reports, the Western powers and their regional allies - especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey - are supporting the militants operating inside the country.

NTJ/NJF