Iran Committed to Protecting Civilians in Idlib

Date: 17 September 2018 - 21:44

News ID: ۵۷۵۲۶

TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Iran said Monday it is committed to protecting civilians if its Syrian regime ally launches a full-scale offensive on the country's last terrorist stronghold of Idlib province.
"The humanitarian issue is of significant importance to us," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qhasemi told journalists in Tehran.
"In line with our policy of fighting terrorism and reclaiming Syria's territorial integrity, we are highly determined to solve the Idlib issue so that the people are not harmed," he added.
Tehran is a key backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the country's seven-year conflict, and has said it is ready to support an assault by government forces on the terrorist-held province.
Iran, Russia and Turkey met at a Tehran summit on Sept. 7 to discuss the expected offensive against Idlib.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan were due to meet on Monday to continue the talks.
Putin was quoted in the first report emerging from the meeting that the two sides had agreed to set up a "demilitarized zone” along the Idlib border.
Before their meeting, Erdogan said a joint statement due to be made after his meeting with Putin on the crisis in Syria would bring "new hope" to the region.
Erdogan earlier said Turkey's calls for a ceasefire in Idlib were bearing fruit after days of relative calm but more work needed to be done, Hurriyet newspaper reported Monday.
Turkey, with 3.5 million Syrian refugees, has already borne the "political and human burden" of Syria's seven-year-old conflict and any new refugee flow would head for Turkey, the newspaper quoted Erdogan as telling reporters on a flight back from Azerbaijan at the weekend.
Ankara has established a dozen military observation posts around Idlib, which it has reinforced with troops and equipment in recent weeks according to Turkish and Syrian militant sources.
"We are trying to protect the pure, clean, innocent people there with these observation posts," Erdogan said.
Turkey has called for measures to target terrorists in Idlib while protecting civilians and avoiding an indiscriminate assault, likely backed by Russian air power.
"Let's all take steps, measures together against the terror groups among the opposition in Idlib," Erdogan said. "But let's not create an excuse and take a step like bombing there."
Although Iranian President Hasan Rouhani was not be present, Qasemi said Tehran was continuing discussions with both countries as well as Damascus.
Sixty percent of Idlib's area is controlled by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, an alliance led by Al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate.
Turkey has meanwhile bolstered its military presence in Idlib, with Ankara aiming to prevent an assault by government forces who have massed around the province in recent weeks.