ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Russian and Iranian officials have slammed US policy in Syria, accusing it having ulterior economic motives in the region and of failing to defeat terrorism. Their fresh criticism comes ahead of a significant announcement from Washington on the future of its Syria mission.
Opening the VII Moscow Conference on International Security in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the US-led coalition has failed to counter terrorism in Syria.
He accused the US of instead trying to establish a military and economic presence in Syria.
“It is hard to believe that the powerful coalition could not fight terrorists in the region. It is evident that the coalition had another aim: to undermine the situation in the region, and deploy its military and economical presence in the area,” Shoigu said, according to a Russian defense ministry statement.
The minister’s claims were echoed by Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami, who said the defeat of ISIS is actually a defeat of US regional policies.
Speaking at the Moscow conference, he predicted a new round of hostilities and tensions in the region, Iranian state-backed news agency IRNA reports.
“As long as the main factors contributing to Daesh [ISIS] continue to persist, and invading countries continue to be armed by Western countries, particularly the United States, and as long as the US has chosen not to shoulder responsibility for its unwise policies in the international arena, the threat of terrorism is expected to emerge from another place,” Hatami added.
The US will soon announce its decision on the future of its military deployment in Syria, US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said on Wednesday, according to the Washington Post.
The paper said US President Donald Trump instructed military leaders on Tuesday to prepare for withdrawal, although a date has not been set.
“Our primary mission in terms of Syria was getting rid of ISIS,” Trump said, according to AFP.
“We’ve almost completed that task. And we’ll be making a decision very quickly in coordination with others in the area as to what we’ll do.”
However, Trump’s view was not shared by the head of US Central Command, General Joe Votel – the top commander in the US-led operation against ISIS.
“The hard part I think is in front of us and that is stabilizing these areas, consolidating our gains, getting people back into their homes, addressing the long term issues of reconstruction and other things that will have to be done,” Votel said at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, according to AFP.
“Of course there is a military role in this, certainly in the stabilization phase,” he added.
A statement from the White House on Wednesday said the anti-ISIS mission in Syria is "coming to a rapid end," but the US and partners remain committed to combating the remaining ISIS presence and Washington will "continue to consult with our allies and friends regarding future plans."
Russian President Valimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani are in Ankara for tripartite talks on Syria with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In a trilateral statement published on Wednesday, the three leaders, who are guarantors of the Astana peace process, said the Syrian conflict cannot be ended militarily.
“The presidents expressed their conviction that there could be no military solution to the Syrian conflict and that the conflict could be ended only through a negotiated political process,” the statement reads.
“They rejected all attempts to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of combatting terrorism and expressed their determination to stand against separatist agendas aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as well as the national security of neighboring countries,” the statement added.
Opening the VII Moscow Conference on International Security in Moscow on Wednesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said the US-led coalition has failed to counter terrorism in Syria.
He accused the US of instead trying to establish a military and economic presence in Syria.
“It is hard to believe that the powerful coalition could not fight terrorists in the region. It is evident that the coalition had another aim: to undermine the situation in the region, and deploy its military and economical presence in the area,” Shoigu said, according to a Russian defense ministry statement.
The minister’s claims were echoed by Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami, who said the defeat of ISIS is actually a defeat of US regional policies.
Speaking at the Moscow conference, he predicted a new round of hostilities and tensions in the region, Iranian state-backed news agency IRNA reports.
“As long as the main factors contributing to Daesh [ISIS] continue to persist, and invading countries continue to be armed by Western countries, particularly the United States, and as long as the US has chosen not to shoulder responsibility for its unwise policies in the international arena, the threat of terrorism is expected to emerge from another place,” Hatami added.
The US will soon announce its decision on the future of its military deployment in Syria, US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said on Wednesday, according to the Washington Post.
The paper said US President Donald Trump instructed military leaders on Tuesday to prepare for withdrawal, although a date has not been set.
“Our primary mission in terms of Syria was getting rid of ISIS,” Trump said, according to AFP.
“We’ve almost completed that task. And we’ll be making a decision very quickly in coordination with others in the area as to what we’ll do.”
However, Trump’s view was not shared by the head of US Central Command, General Joe Votel – the top commander in the US-led operation against ISIS.
“The hard part I think is in front of us and that is stabilizing these areas, consolidating our gains, getting people back into their homes, addressing the long term issues of reconstruction and other things that will have to be done,” Votel said at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, according to AFP.
“Of course there is a military role in this, certainly in the stabilization phase,” he added.
A statement from the White House on Wednesday said the anti-ISIS mission in Syria is "coming to a rapid end," but the US and partners remain committed to combating the remaining ISIS presence and Washington will "continue to consult with our allies and friends regarding future plans."
Russian President Valimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani are in Ankara for tripartite talks on Syria with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In a trilateral statement published on Wednesday, the three leaders, who are guarantors of the Astana peace process, said the Syrian conflict cannot be ended militarily.
“The presidents expressed their conviction that there could be no military solution to the Syrian conflict and that the conflict could be ended only through a negotiated political process,” the statement reads.
“They rejected all attempts to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of combatting terrorism and expressed their determination to stand against separatist agendas aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as well as the national security of neighboring countries,” the statement added.
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