A former US official stated that the terrorist group rampaging by way of northern Syria is “an asset” of Washington
The US and Israel are answerable for the resurgence of Salafist terrorism in Syria, Iranian Overseas Minister Abbas Araghchi has claimed, including that Tehran will assist the efforts by the federal government in Damascus aimed to to halt the continued jihadist offensive.
Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS), the terrorist group previously often known as Jabhat al-Nusra, attacked government-controlled territory in northern Syria on Wednesday alongside a group of allied militias, breaking a fragile truce brokered by Russia and Türkiye in 2020. By Friday, HTS fighters had entered Aleppo, which had been beneath Syrian authorities management since 2016.
In a cellphone name along with his Syrian counterpart, Bassam al-Sabbagh, on Friday, Araghchi referred to as the offensive “an American-Zionist” plot. Based on Iran’s PressTV, Araghchi famous that the assault passed off instantly after Israel struck a ceasefire take care of Hezbollah in Lebanon, suggesting that Washington and West Jerusalem have been utilizing HTS as proxies to strike a blow towards Syria’s authorities, which helps the Palestinian trigger.
Araghchi informed al-Sabbagh that Iran continues to assist the “Syrian authorities, nation, and armed forces in the direction of combating terrorism and defending regional safety and stability,” PressTV paraphrased.
Earlier than adopting its present title in 2017, Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham was often known as Jabhat al-Nusra. Not directly armed by the US and allegedly backed by Türkiye, the terrorist group was one of many essential factions opposing Bashar Assad’s authorities in the course of the Syrian Civil Warfare. Russia intervened within the battle in 2015, serving to Damascus retake a lot of the nation from Jabhat al-Nusra, Islamic State (IS, previously ISIS), and dozens of US-supported armed teams deemed “reasonable rebels” by Washington.
Iran additionally performed a key position in serving to the Syrian authorities maintain again the jihadists, with the nation’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps offering weapons and coaching to the Syrian Military and sending 1000’s of army advisers and volunteers to help Assad’s forces on the battlefield.
Whereas the US waged battle towards IS fighters in Syria, it overtly supported different anti-Assad militias and covertly backed some jihadist teams. Regardless of Washington putting a $10 million bounty on the pinnacle of Al-Qaeda’s commander in Syria in 2013, present US Nationwide Safety Adviser and then-State Division staffer Jake Sullivan had written to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a number of months earlier, explaining that “AQ [Al Qaeda] is on our aspect in Syria.”
Al-Qaeda’s Syrian commander, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, broke ties with the group in 2016 and went on to steer HTS. In an interview in 2021, Former US Particular Consultant for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey described HTS as “an asset” to American technique in Syria, saying that supporting the jihadist commander was “the least dangerous possibility” for retaining Idlib out of Syrian authorities management.
Whereas the US formally considers al-Jolani a ‘Specifically Designated International Terrorist’ and has implicated his group in a litany of human rights abuses, al-Jolani insists that HTS “doesn’t symbolize a risk” to Western pursuits.
Supply hyperlink
