News / Syria / Foreign Policy

White House says US ‘closely monitoring’ situation in Syria’s Idlib

Tuesday, 04 September 2018 8:32 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 04 September 2018 9:27 PM ]

Foreign-backed militants are seen in the countryside of Syria's northern Idlib province on September 3, 2018. (AFP photo)

The United States is "closely monitoring" the situation in Syria’s Idlib province, where efforts are underway to drive terrorists out.

"President Donald J. Trump has warned that such an attack would be a reckless escalation of an already tragic conflict and would risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of people," press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement on Tuesday.

Takfiri terrorists have failed to destabilize the Syrian government in the face of the army’s battles despite occupying major parts of the country since starting their foreign-backed militancy in 2011.

Ever since, Syria and its allies have tackled terrorism in most of the country, yet parts of its northwest remain occupied by terrorists.

Sanders' 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 lose their lives “in this potential human tragedy.”

PressTV-Trump tweets to warn about attacking Idlib

US President Donald Trump has claimed that attacking militant-held Idlib would be a “humanitarian mistake” for Tehran and Moscow.

Sanders added that Washington "will continue to work tirelessly with its allies to find a lasting diplomatic solution to resolve the hostilities in Syria."

The US 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 Daesh.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed Trump’s warning at a press conference in the capital Moscow earlier in the day.

PressTV-Iran FM in Syria, says Idlib must be cleansed of terror

Foreign Minister Zarif makes a surprise visit to Damascus, where he urges the last major terrorist stronghold in northwest Syria to be cleansed.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who has recently met with top Syrian officials, also told reporters that Tehran seeks Idlib liberation with the “least humanitarian cost.”

This is while United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura has asked the Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to find a “soft solution” in tackling terrorism in Idlib.

The presidents of Iran, Russia, and Turkey are set to hold their third round of tripartite summit in Iran next week in an effort to find ways to end the ongoing crisis in Syria.

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