The story: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused the United States, Israel and a “neighboring state” of having plotted the overthrow of former Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad. This comes as Iranian Vice President for Strategic Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif has charged that Assad—more than anything—paid the price of his ego, and for having failed to hear out his critics.

Meanwhile, with Damascus in the hands of rebels that the Islamic Republic once helped Assad defeat, some Iranian hardliners...