Tom O'Connor
Iran's most senior diplomat at the United Nations has issued a fresh call for the total exit of U.S. and Israeli forces from Syria as conflict continued to rage on several fronts across the Middle East, setting the stage for a potential broader regional war.
The statement was issued Tuesday at the Security Council by Iranian Permanent Representative Amir Saeid Iravani and shared with Newsweek by the Iranian Mission to the U.N.
"The Syrian people continue to suffer from humanitarian crises, aggression, foreign occupation, and terrorism," Iravani said. "Through unlawful occupation, inhumane sanctions, politicizing the return of refugees and IDPs, and preventing international support for Syria's reconstruction, certain Western countries are responsible for the prolongation of the conflict as they attempt to impose their own will on the Syrian people."
Iravani singled out the United States, which cut ties with the Iran and Russia-backed Syrian government and instead largely supports a Kurdish-led militia known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that controls much of the country's northeast.
"Any separatist agendas and illegitimate self-rule initiatives must be rejected and all foreign forces whose presence is illegal in the territory of Syria by the Syrian Government must withdraw from Syria," Iravani said. "In this context, the full, immediate, and unconditional withdrawal of U.S. forces from Syria is essential for the peace and stability of Syria."
He also called out Israel over its "continued aggressions against Syria's sovereignty, targeting civilians and vital infrastructure" as well as its "unlawful" occupation of the southwestern Golan Heights, seized during the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed without international recognition.
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