UNITED NATIONS, October 30. /TASS/. Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya has slammed the United States’ strikes on facilities in Syria as a flagrant violation of international law and infringement on Syria’s sovereignty.
"At the order of President Joe Biden, US forces delivered strikes on two facilities near the city of Abu Kemal on October 26. Washington said that the attack was carried out as part of the implementation of the so-called American-style right to self-defense, thousands of kilometers away from US territory. Such illegal actions taken by Washington are nothing but a blatant violation of Syria’s sovereignty and international law," he said at a meeting of the UN Security Council.
"Such violent actions amid the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are fraught with extremely dangerous consequences and may trigger an armed escalation in the entire region," he said, adding that unlike the US, Russia is targeting Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (outlawed in Russia), which was listed as a terrorist organization by the UN Security Council.
He noted that recurring Arab-Kurdish clashes on the Euphrates’ eastern bank, which have claimed the lives of more than 100 people, and protests in the al-Suwaida Governorate, when "economic demands turned overtly political," can be seen as vivid evidence proving Washington’s interference in Syria’s domestic affairs.
"In such a situation, the United States and its Western allies who are occupying large territories in the northeast of Syria and smuggling Syrian oil and grain, are instigating political unrest under economic pretexts, supplying Kurds with weapons, which are then used against Arab tribes legally living on the Euphrates’ eastern bank, posing threats in regions adjacent to the Syrian-Turkish border. They are supported by the Israeli air force, which has expanded its arbitrary airstrikes on the Deir ez-Zor Governorate," Nebenzya stressed.
He admitted that Damascus’ cooperation with Arab countries can be seen as a positive. "Expanding ties with other off-region players is of great importance to Syria in terms of getting out of the artificially imposed isolation," he noted.
"As for the political track of the Syrian settlement, we see no alternative to efforts to promote a UN-backed political process conducted by Syrians in strict compliance with UN Security Council resolution 2254 and on the basis of respect for the sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity of that country. We are convinced that it is necessary to continue direct intra-Syrian dialogue, with the Constitutional Committee being the key platform for this," the Russian diplomat added.
On October 26, two US F-16 fighter jets hit weapons and munitions depots belonging, according to Washington, to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Syria. According to the Pentagon, around 20 drone and missile attacks on US troops have been staged since October 17. Around 900 US troops are deployed in Syria and around 2,500 - in Iraq.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said in an interview with CNN that Tehran doesn’t want the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to spread into the entire Middle East. He also refuted Iran’s involvement in the attacks on US bases in the region.