The official insignia of the Syrian Foreign Ministry.
Syria has condemned recent United States strikes on the eastern governorate of Deir Ezzor, which reportedly targeted forces affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
In a statement released on March 25, the Syrian Foreign Ministry said that the strikes lead to a number of victims as well as material losses.
“The American lies about the targeted positions are nothing but a failed attempt to justify this act of aggression and the flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic and the unity and territorial integrity of it, and a continuation of the attacks committed by the Israeli occupation entity and the herds of ISIS terrorists against the people of the region, and a smokescreen to cover the continuation of theft of Syrian oil by American occupation forces,” the statement, which was shared by the Syrian Arab News Agency, reads.
According to the ministry, on March 25 only U.S. forces smuggled 80 tankers loaded with crude oil stolen from the northeastern region through al-Walid crossing with the Iraqi Kurdistan region.
“The Syrian Arab Republic affirms its adherence to ending the American occupation, extending the authority of the Syrian state over all of its territory, and stopping American sponsorship and support for separatist terrorist militias, and Syria calls on all countries of the world to condemn this American aggression and show solidarity with Syria to preserve the unity of its land and people,” the ministry concluded.
The U.S. launched on March 23 a series of strikes on several installations of Iranian-backed forces in Deir Ezzor in response to an earlier drone attack that hit a coalition base near the city of al-Hasakah. The drone attack killed a U.S. contractor and wounded five U.S. service members along with a second U.S. contractor.
The Pentagon said that the intelligence community had determined the drone used in the deadly attack was of Iranian origin.
The Iranian Advisory Committee in Syria said that the retaliatory strikes had killed seven of their fighters and wounded seven others, without specifying the fighters’ nationality. However, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at 19.
Iranian-backed forces responded with three rocket and drone attacks that targeted two bases of the coalition, the Conoco gas plant and the Green Village in the eastern and southeastern countryside of Deir Ezzor, between March 23 and 24. One U.S. service member was wounded.
In his first comment on the confrontation, President Joe Biden vowed to respond to any attack on U.S. troops in Syria and stated that his country is not looking for a conflict with Iran. From its side, Tehran said on March 25 that any attack on its affiliates in the country will be met with a swift response.
Despite exchanging threats, neither the U.S. or Iran appear to be interested in a new round of escalation. The situation in northeastern Syria is currently calm.
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^says defacto sufyani to defacto dajjal.
Glory belongs to those that resist the Evil Anglo Empire.