US Mocks Zarif’s Concern for ‘Health of Syrian People’

Arab World

April 22nd, 5:46am

Ankara - Moscow - London - Asharq Al-Awsat

FILE PHOTO: James Jeffrey, US Special Representative for Syria, addresses the media in Geneva, Switzerland October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

A US official mocked on Tuesday Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif who, during a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday, expressed concern for the health of the Syrian people. US special envoy on Syria James Jeffrey said: “If Iran were truly concerned about the health and safety of the Syrian people, it would support the UN-led process…withdraw IRGC, Hezbollah, and other Iran-backed terrorist forces under its command from the entirety of Syria.” He said Iran's only contributions to Syria have been “violence and instability.” Following a meeting with Assad in Damascus Monday, Zarif attacked the US for its “continuing refusal to lift the blockade on Syria and Iran.” Jeffrey defended the US response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying the US had allocated more than $10.6 billion in aid since the crisis. "We continue to offer humanitarian assistance to help address the coronavirus outbreak, while the Assad regime, Russia, and Iran obstruct aid and starve the Syrian people of food and medicine,” he said. In a phone conversation late Tuesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, spoke about the need to advance the Astana peace process on Syria through trilateral talks, which involve Iran, Russia, and Turkey. In another phone call, the Russian President discussed with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Syrian war, on the eve of an expected video conference between ministers of the three countries. “We confirm holding of the trilateral ministerial talks on Syria (Astana process) on April 22 remotely,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday. The summit had been set to be held in Tehran with the participation of the presidents of Iran, Turkey and Russia, but it was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. In the battlefield, nine Syrian regime members and pro-Iran groups were killed on Monday when Israel hit targets near the ancient city of Palmyra in central Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. This is the first time Israel bombs Syria this month. The attack came hours after the Zarif-Assad meeting in Damascus.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2246361/us-mocks-zarif%E2%80%99s-concern-%E2%80%98health-syrian-people%E2%80%99