Damascus’ allies reject US demands for downgrading their military activities

Tabnak - As the Syrian army continues its preparations for starting an operation in the rebel-held Idlib province, the United States is trying to impose pressures on Damascus and its allies not to go on with their military plans. Iran, Hezbollah and Russia make it clear that they are not about to give in to the American pressures.

In this vein, Hezbollah says the US, whose pro-terror policies have faced defeat in Syria, is in no position to call for the withdrawal of Iranian advisors and allied Lebanese resistance fighters, who have emerged as “victors” of the war against terrorists in the Arab state.

Last week, Lebanon’s al-Akhbar daily reported that an American delegation, comprising security and intelligence officials, had visited Damascus in June and met President Bashar al-Assad’s special security advisor, Ali Mamlouk.

During the four-hour meeting, the report added, the delegation had set three conditions for the pullout of US military forces from Syria, including the withdrawal of Iranian advisors from southern Syria near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, data on “terrorist groups” and a role in the oil business in eastern Syria.

Speaking on Monday, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem described those conditions as “meaningless,” stressing that it is the “victors” who are eligible to set out conditions, not the US which has been defeated in Syria. He also hailed the achievements made by the Syrian army and its allies against US-backed Takfiri terrorists.

Hezbollah and the Syrian government are now in the stage of “successive victories for Syria and its axis. We have lifted this black cloud, victories will continue, and we will achieve more,” the Hezbollah official noted.

Meanwhile, Russia has strongly dismissed US President Donald Trump’s warning to Syria not to carry out a full-scale offensive against terrorists in the militant-held province of Idlib, stressing that the northwestern region is a “nest of terrorism.”

“Just to speak out with some warnings, without taking into account the very dangerous, negative potential for the whole situation in Syria, is probably not a full, comprehensive approach,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press conference in the capital Moscow on Tuesday.

His comments came a day after Trump warned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and his close allies Russia and Iran, not to “recklessly attack” Idlib, claiming that civilian people could lost their lives “in this potential human tragedy.”

On the other hand, in a meeting in Damascus on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad asserted that Western countries would not be able to deter Iran and Syria from defending their principles, the interests of the two nations, and the security and stability of the entire region.

The two sides emphasized that Western policy of threat and pressure against Syria and Iran shows the West's failure to achieve its goals in the Middle East.

The Syrian president and Iranian foreign minister hailed the current level of relations between the two countries in various fields and agreed to further continue consultations and coordination, particularly in light of the rapidly-shifting regional and international issues.

It should be noted that Washington has been conducting airstrikes inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate. It has repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians across the Arab country. It has also been largely incapable of fulfilling its declared aim of destroying ISIS terrorist group.