The presidents of Russia, Turkey, and Iran are meeting in Tehran on Friday for the third trilateral summit to discuss the situation in Syria.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated during the meeting in Tehran that terrorists in the rebel-held Syrian city of Idlib are preparing provocations involving chemical weapons.
"The remaining groups of extremists [in Syria] are currently concentrated in the de-escalation zone in the province of Idlib. Terrorists are making attempts to disrupt the ceasefire, moreover, they are carrying out and preparing various kinds of provocations, including using chemical weapons," the Russian President stressed.
He also noted the significant progress in ensuring long-term normalization in Syria.
"I would like to note that the decisions of the two previous summits of the guarantor states of the Astana process are being successfully implemented, and significant progress has been achieved in ensuring long-term normalization in Syria," Putin said.
The Russian President agreed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s proposal to declare a ceasefire in Syria's Idlib but underlined that it's impossible to talk for the groups that were not present at the meeting.
Addressing the issue, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the civilian population in Idlib should not suffer during counter-terrorism operations.
"The only goal in Syria and the region can only be peace, but to achieve sustainable peace, a serious fight against terrorism is inevitable," the president added.
He also urged Israel to leave "the occupied Syrian territories," and criticized the US presence in the country.
"It is absolutely clear that the United States is present in Syria illegally and is only fueling aggression and supporting terrorist regime [there]. And its positive role in the Syrian process can hardly be expected. [The US] presence only exacerbates problems, and hampers the achievement of sustainable peace in Syria," Iranian president emphasized.
Erdogan also warned that the operation of the Syrian army in the region could lead to a humanitarian disaster, adding that his country was no longer able to receive refugees from Syria.
The Turkish President concluded by saying that the next trilateral meeting would probably be held in Russia.
Russian officials, moreover, have repeatedly warned that terrorists were planning a false-flag chemical weapons attack in Idlib with the aim of provoking Western retaliation against the Syrian government.
While Syria seemed to have dropped from the Western media's radar over the past months as the Syrian Army and its Russian and Iranian allies made rapid gains, multiple huge developments this week have returned the war to center stage in Washington and the dangerous rhetoric of escalation.
In just the last 24 hours alone, we've learned:
- Trump has reportedly done a 180 shift, departing from his prior statements of "bring our troops home" made only months ago, and has approved "an indefinite military and diplomatic effort in Syria" according to a bombshell Washington Post report.
- Russia has put the US military on notice, telling American commanders that Russian and Syrian forces are prepared to attack At Tanf — a key US garrison along the Syrian-Iraq border.
- A top US Syria policy representative says there's “lots of evidence” chemical weapons are being prepared by the Syrian Army for use in its impending Idlib ground assault.
Perhaps most alarming concerning all of the above is that the threatened US "response" and rhetoric over potential future use of chemical weapons in Idlib is dramatically escalating by the day.
On Thursday night Reuters reported:
There is "lots of evidence" that chemical weapons are being prepared by Syrian government forces in Idlib region in northwest Syria, the new US representative for Syria said on Thursday, warning any attack on the last big rebel enclave would be a "reckless escalation."
"Any offensive is to us objectionable as a reckless escalation," the envoy, Jim Jeffrey, told reporters. "There is lots of evidence that chemical weapons are being prepared."
"Any offensive is to us objectionable as a reckless escalation," the envoy, Jim Jeffrey, told reporters. "There is lots of evidence that chemical weapons are being prepared."
This comes days after US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley gave a similar warning, while also claiming to somehow predict the future, and assuring the world that "Assad is guilty" before anything actually happens.
Here's video of Nikki Haley saying this of the Syrian regime: “If they want to continue to go the route of taking over Syria, they can do that, but they can not do it with chemical weapons." pic.twitter.com/F7y1bNvO2n— Samuel Oakford (@samueloakford) September 4, 2018
She said at a UN press conference Tuesday:
“But they cannot do it with chemical weapons. They can’t do it assaulting their people. And we’re not gonna fall for it. If there are chemical weapons that are used, we know exactly who’s gonna use them.”
Meanwhile Russia had previously cited its own intelligence in contradiction of US claims, over a week ago saying that Syrian armed groups in Idlib are preparing for a staged chemical provocation, which Moscow says the West will use to justify a strike against Syrian government forces.
Speaking to Newsweek recently, Syria analyst Joshua Landis said that there is every reason to doubt the veracity of past rebel claims regarding government chemical weapons usage — a surprising admission given his prominence as speaking from within the heart of the media foreign policy establishment.
What is certain is that we are once again witnessing the Syrian proxy war coming to a head, and after seven years of conflict, this could be the big one in terms of the final direct 'great power' confrontation that commanders involved on either side had previously just barely avoided.
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