Bassel al-Assad (Arabic: بَاسِلُ ٱلْأَسَدِ, romanized: Bāsil al-ʾAsad; 23 March 1962 – 21 January 1994) was a Syrian military officer, engineer and politician. He was the eldest son of Syrian president Hafez al-Assad. He was expected to succeed his father as president until his death in a car crash in January 1994. After his death, his younger brother Bashar became heir apparent to the Syrian presidency and ultimately succeeded their father upon his death.

Bassel al-Assad was born on 23 March 1962 in the national capital city of Damascus into an Alawite family. He was the son of Hafez al-Assad, and his wife Anisa Makhlouf. He had an older sister named Bushra and three brothers named Bashar, Majd, and Maher.

He was trained as a civil engineer, and held a PhD in military sciences. He said about his childhood:

We saw father at home but he was so busy that three days could go by without us exchanging a word with him. We never had breakfast or dinner together, and I don't remember ever having lunch together as a family, or maybe we only did once or twice when state affairs were involved. As a family, we used to spend a day or two in Latakia in the summer, but then too he used to work in the office and we didn't get to see much of him.

Trained in parachuting, he was commissioned in the Special Forces and later switched to the armoured corps after training in Soviet military academies. He was rapidly promoted, becoming a major and then commander of a brigade in the Republican Guard.

After his father recovered from a serious illness in 1984, Bassel began to accompany him and he emerged on the national scene in 1987, when he won several equestrian medals at a regional tournament. The Ba'ath Party press in Syria eulogised him as the "Golden Knight" because of his prowess on horseback. Bassel also had a rival equestrian competitor, Adnan Qassar, imprisoned in 1993 for beating him in a horse race; Qassar was released from Sednaya Prison in 2014. He also had a reputation for an interest in fast cars, and his friends described him as charismatic and commanding. Assad was soon appointed Head of Presidential Security. In addition, he launched the Syrian Computer Society in 1989, which would later be headed by Bashar.

Originally Assad's uncle, Rifaat al-Assad, was Hafez's chosen successor; but Rifaat attempted to usurp power from Hafez while the latter was in a coma in 1984. This led to Rifaat's exile in Europe. Following the incident, Bassel was groomed to succeed his father. Hafez's efforts to make Bassel the next president of Syria intensified in the early 1990s; after Hafez's election victory in 1991 in an election where Hafez was the only candidate, the president was publicly referred to as "Abu Basil" (Father of Bassel). Bassel was also introduced to European and Arab leaders; he was a close friend of the children of King Hussein of Jordan, especially Haya bint Hussein who also enjoyed equestrianism, and had been also introduced to King Fahd of Saudi Arabia. Assad had a significant role in Lebanese affairs, and was known to Lebanese leaders of all sects. He organised a highly publicised anti-corruption campaign within the government and frequently appeared in full military uniform at official receptions to signal the government's commitment to the armed forces.

Aside from his native Arabic, Bassel was said to be fluent in French and Russian. According to leaked United States diplomatic cables, he had a relationship with a Lebanese woman, Siham Asseily, who later married Lebanese journalist and deputy Gebran Tueni.