ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Meeting in Moscow, foreign ministers from Russia, Iran and Syria jointly condemned last week’s unilateral US missile strikes against Shayrat air base less than a day after the US and Turkish defense ministers called for the focus in Syria to remain on countering ISIS.
"This is an act of aggression and major violation of the international law and UN Charter," the host FM Sergey Lavrov said, according to Russian state TASS news. "We urge the US and their allies to respect Syria’s sovereignty."
The Iran FM questioned the United States’ bias in participating in follow-up investigations.
According to Iranian state IRNA news, Javad Zarif condemned using chemical weapons in general and said that, in the meantime, using this excuse for unilateral and illegal attacks on Syria is also condemned and this matter should be dealt impartially so that the truth becomes known.
Syria believes that the peace processes at Astana and Geneva have been undermined by the current administration of US President Donald Trump.
“We noticed that when the Trump administration came to power, the US role in the Astana and the Geneva process has been reduced to the very minimum,” FM Walid al-Moallem said. “This means that they do not want success in the peace process.”
The US has mostly been backing Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the north, who rarely clash with pro-regime forces.
US Secretary of Defense James Mattis highlighted the fight against extremism as a shared mission of the United States and Turkey, while his Turkish counterpart was in Washington on Thursday.
“This relationship continues today, with United States and Turkish military forces working together to counter a wide range of threats to our common security,” the secretary said, adding that threats included ISIS and the PKK [Kurdistan Workers’ Party].
Turkey, which shares a 822 kilometer with Syria that the Turks have been reinforcing through the construction of a border wall and military forays into Syria, has deemed its participation in Syria as needed.
“Today [Thursday], we will discuss ways and means to eliminate threats emanating from terrorism in our region. In this regard, we will address outstanding issues an all challenges to regional and into national security, which requires determined and necessary actions from us,” Turkish National Defense Minister Fikri Ishik said.
The US unilaterally launched cruise missiles at Shayrat air base in Syria on April 7 for what Trump said was its role in a chemical weapons attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has called claims of a chemical weapon attack by the Syrian government “fabricated” and said he welcomes an “impartial investigation,” according to SANA.
