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US officials have warned that Russia's delivery of the S-300 missile system to the Syrian armed forces could aggravate tensions in the war-torn country, but the Pentagon's main political wing saw it as a development. potentially positive.
Sinam Mohamad is the head of the Syrian Democratic Council Mission in Washington and represents the political interests of the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces fighting the militant group of the Islamic State (ISIS) with the support of a coalition led by United States. The United States has largely focused its mission in Syria on the fight against jihadists in recent years, but they have occasionally hit sites of the Syrian government and the decision of Russia to provide its ally with the anti-war system. and anti-missile S-300. This followed an international incident involving an Israeli raid on alleged Iranian positions that had aroused the concern of political and military figures.
Unlike the Syrian opposition formerly backed by the CIA, the Mohamad group did not explicitly call for the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and perceived the benefits of an air defense network Syrian reinforced.
"We have no worries about [the S-300 systems]. I think it depends on the Syrian government and the Russian government … They have an agreement between them and they support Syria with the S-300. I think it's ok [strengthen] the defense of the Syrian government [against] no threat to her. This is not bad, "she said, according to the Russian news agency Sputnik.
The United States was one of the leading proponents of the 2011 rebel and jihadist uprising that was threatening the Assad regime, but began withdrawing that assistance as the insurgency became more and more Islamist. and that ISIS was beginning to invade the country. The United States and coalition allies began bombing the Islamic State in 2014 and formed a partnership with the Syrian democratic forces the following year, about the same time Moscow entered the country. fight to support the Syrian army.
Syria has also received support from Iran, which has also prompted Israeli intervention. Israel has accused Tehran of trying to establish advanced bases through military advisers and various Shia Muslim militias fighting on Assad 's behalf. Israel has conducted hundreds of air strikes against alleged Iranian positions in the neighboring country and outdated Syrian anti-aircraft defenses attempting to counter such an attack last month have accidentally shot down a Russian Il-20 surveillance aircraft in a series of attacks. imputed events in Moscow and Damascus. Israel.
Russia reacted by delivering a series of more modern S-300 ground-to-air missile systems that the Syrian army would use directly. Syrian and Iranian officials have warned Israel not to pursue further strikes, which it has pledged to continue doing. In the statements sent to Newsweek, a US-led coalition spokesman said that the introduction of equipment "is a concern," and a US military official warned that it would be an "exacerbation of the conflict and an escalation of the humanitarian situation".
National Security Adviser John Bolton said "the presentation of the S-300 to the Syrian government would be a significant escalation of the Russians". At the same time, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said at a press conference Tuesday that "the fact that the Russians deliver the S-300 to Syria presents [a] an increased risk for all those who are in the affected areas and for stability in the Middle East. He added: "We consider that it is a very serious escalation. "
It would not be the first time that the views of the United States and its main ally in Syria diverge. The People's Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia that forms an important faction of the Syrian Democratic Forces, fought alongside pro-Syrian government forces, including to defeat the rebels in Aleppo in 2016 and attempt to repel insurgents. supported by Turkey. in Afrin earlier this year.
The Syrian Democratic Council has also begun negotiations with the government in Damascus, hoping to gain greater autonomy in the northern and northeastern territories that it holds and even seemed to offer in July of to support a possible Syrian military offensive in Idlib, the last province of the country. by an insurgency led by the Islamists.
The head of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Kobani, said on Monday that the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the main Syrian Kurdish party, said: "We have no problem with Bashar al-Assad. and if the people want to choose it, we have no problem with it and we will be part of the forces of the Syrian regime in this case. " He also said that he would brandish the national flag in areas controlled by his group if a political solution were to be found.
These discussions, however, seem to be stalled as both sides struggle to reconcile conflicting visions of post-war Syria. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, who has already demonstrated his openness to Kurdish self-determination, told Russian state television on Sunday that "the Americans have entered Syria without legitimacy and their presence reinforces the tendency of the Kurds to separate. "Washington has ruined the talks between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Council and provided it with military support", while funding anti-government groups in the US-declared zone of deconfliction. United, where US troops and insurgents staged a rehearsal air strike exercise Thursday.
The Co-President of the Syrian Democratic Council, Amina Omar, has accused the government of blocking negotiations, but said Wednesday at the Kurdish Kurdish news agency Hawar that she was still willing to sit with the government "at all moment, because we believe that the political solution is the best solution to put an end to the Syrian crisis ".
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