Following a meeting in Damascus with Iran and Iraq’s chiefs of staff, designed to strengthen ties between the three militaries, Ayyoub said the United States has only one card left to play in Syria ‐ the SDF.
"Preserving the unity of the Syrian state geographically and human-wise is not negotiable and not up for discussion," Ayyoub told a presser in the Syrian capital alongside Iran’s Mohammad Bagheri and Iraq’s Othman al-Ghanimi.
"The Syrian state will regain full control over all of its geography sooner or later, whether through reconciliation or military force. Idlib won’t be an exception at all," he added.
US forces are stationed in Syria illegally, Ayyoub said, unlike regime-backers Russia and Iran whose forces were formally invited by the Syrian government. He predicted the US would eventually leave.
"There won’t be any area of Syrian soil outside the government control," he added.
Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib is currently under the control of the former al-Qaeda affiliate Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham
(HTS). An estimated three million people remain inside the province, including thousands who fled former rebel bastions in Daraa and the suburbs of Damascus. A shaky truce brokered by Russia and opposition-backer ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire....
has so far prevented a bloody regime offensive.
Several northern areas, including the Kurdish canton of Afrin, are held by
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
(ISIS).
Spooked by the prospect of an imminent US withdrawal, the Kurds of northern Syria (Rojava) have expressed a readiness to negotiate with the regime to secure some level of cultural autonomy should the regime retake the territory. Striking a deal with Damascus could prevent a feared
The Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), negotiating on behalf of the Rojava Kurds, has said the regime appears unwilling to compromise. The regime meanwhile has accused the US of trying to sabotage negotiations.
"America and others will leave Syria as they have left other areas since their presence is illegitimate and rejected," Ayyoub told news hounds.
"As for what is related to the so-called SDF, the rationale of the state and citizenship stipulates for the sons of the homeland to stand by their state and army, irrespective of the existence of differing political visions, but it shouldn’t reach the point of carrying arms against the army dedicated to preserving the security of the homeland and citizen," he said.
The army will "liberate" areas east of Euphrates if the SDF shows it is unwilling to pursue reconciliation and heed the authority of the state, he added.
General Bagheri, the visiting Iranian chief of staff, told reports Tehran is prepared to stand by the Syrian government in its efforts to reassert control over every inch of Syrian territory.
Syrian President Assad has previously made it clear he intends to retake areas outside regime control and has threatened the SDF with military action if it refuses to accept rule from Damascus.