The Kremlin chose silence as a policy towards recent statements made by the US Special Representative for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey on the future of Iran’s role in the Syria crisis.
Jeffrey, speaking to Russian media, had said that Washington will not use new Tehran sanctions as a bargaining chip in Syria.
"Certainly, were the idea of a trade of Iranian withdrawal for American relief on sanctions on Iran to come up, that’s something that under no circumstances would we accept," he said.
But he admitted that all US sanctions on Iran had a “specific Iran pressure component” linked to its concern about Tehran’s activities in the region.
"But these sanctions also are focused on Iran working to help Syria out. And we believe that we need to see the political process move forward, we need to see a de-escalation of the fighting in Syria … And we’ll use sanctions, we’ll use denial of reconstruction aid, we’ll use diplomatic resources — anything we can to try to end this conflict and restore Syria to its people," he said.
The State Department official stressed that sanctions on Iran were reimposed after Washington withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal and had no bearing on the Syrian war.
A Russian diplomat told media outlets on condition of anonymity said that Jeffrey’s statements are interesting and worth a closer look, citing that the lack of a quick official reaction by Russia says a lot.
The US will never have good relations with Syrian regime head Bashar Assad, but only Syrians get to decide who will lead them, Jeffrey said in an interview with RIA Novosti and the Kommersant newspaper.
“We are committed to a political process that is with and by the Syrian people. The Syrian people get to decide who will lead them and what kind of a government they will have. We are not committed to any kind of regime change. We are committed to a change in the behavior of that regime,” Jeffrey said.
As for having Iranian troops exit Syria, the US wants Russia to use its influence to influence Tehran to withdraw forces from the country, Jeffrey said.
"We do urge the Russians to use whatever influence they have with the Syrian government and with the Iranians … to effect the removal of all Iranian commanded forces from the entirety of Syria as part of a solution that would have all foreign forces other than the Russians leave and return to 2011," he added.
