Idlib Offensive Awaits Tehran Summit, Russia ‘Won’t Indefinitely Tolerate Situation’

Destruction in Syria’s Idlib province. AFP file photo
Destruction in Syria’s Idlib province. AFP file photo
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Idlib Offensive Awaits Tehran Summit, Russia ‘Won’t Indefinitely Tolerate Situation’

Destruction in Syria’s Idlib province. AFP file photo
Destruction in Syria’s Idlib province. AFP file photo

Moscow is awaiting a tripartite summit in Tehran next Friday to develop a Russian-Turkish-Iranian joint vision on a solution in Idlib, while Foreign Minister Sergei warned that Russia “could not indefinitely” tolerate the situation in the opposition-held Syrian province.

Speaking to university students in Moscow on Monday, Lavrov said the Syrian regime, Russia’s ally, had every right to wipe out militants in northern Idlib, Interfax news agency reported.

In a message addressed to Ankara, Lavrov stressed the need to separate the moderate opposition from terrorists.

"We are now taking the most active effort, together with our Turkish colleagues, together with the Syrian government, and with the Iranians as participants in the Astana format, to split the armed normal opposition forces from the terrorists on the ground,” Lavrov said.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrived Monday on a surprise visit to Damascus, where he held talks with head of the Syrian regime Bashar Assad and his Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, who is just back from a visit to Moscow.

His visit to Syria follows that of Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami last week.

Zarif met Assad to discuss "issues on the agenda for the tripartite meeting," according to the Syrian presidency's account on the Telegram messaging app.

Assad's office also said Iran and Syria "had similar views on the different issues" to be discussed.

On Sunday, informed Syrian sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that regime forces were awaiting presidential orders to kick off an offensive against Idlib.

Assad has pledged to defeat the opposition in its last refuge in the northwestern province if the fighters do not surrender to government rule.

Sources said Monday that differences between Russia and Turkey concerning the situation in Idlib have declined following talks held between the two sides in the past weeks.

However, Russian media outlets said the gap has widened between Moscow and Tehran.

A Russian expert wrote on the Svobodnaya Pressa website that “Tehran is no more in need of Moscow in Syria,” and that it was working on enhancing its own presence and interests there.



France Expels 12 Algerian Officials in Tit-for-Tat Move amid Diplomatic Tensions

Algerian flags fly at half-staff along the seaside walk in Algiers, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (AP)
Algerian flags fly at half-staff along the seaside walk in Algiers, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (AP)
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France Expels 12 Algerian Officials in Tit-for-Tat Move amid Diplomatic Tensions

Algerian flags fly at half-staff along the seaside walk in Algiers, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (AP)
Algerian flags fly at half-staff along the seaside walk in Algiers, Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021. (AP)

France said Tuesday it was expelling 12 Algerian diplomatic officials a day after Algeria announced the expulsion of the same number of French officials in escalating tensions between the two countries.

Algeria said Monday that its expulsion of 12 French officials was over the arrest of an Algerian consular official by French authorities in a kidnapping case, but relations between the two sides have been deteriorating since last summer. That's when France shifted its position to support Morocco’s autonomy plan for Western Sahara — a disputed territory claimed by the pro-independence Polisario Front, which receives support from Algeria.

Tensions further peaked in November after Algeria arrested French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who is an outspoken critic of the Algerian regime. He has since been sentenced to five years in prison — a verdict he subsequently appealed.

In addition to what French officials called the "symmetrically" calibrated expulsion of 12 Algerian officials, France's ambassador to Algiers also was being recalled home for consultations, a statement from the French presidential palace said Tuesday.

It said Algerian authorities were responsible for "a brutal deterioration in our bilateral relations."

French counterterrorism prosecutors said three Algerian nationals in total were arrested last week and handed preliminary charges of "kidnapping or arbitrary detention … in connection with a terrorist undertaking."

The group is allegedly involved in the April 2024 kidnapping of an Algerian influencer, Amir Boukhors, or Amir DZ, a known critic of the Algerian government with 1.1 million followers on TikTok.

The latest surge in acrimony followed a brief easing of tensions about two weeks ago when French President Emmanuel Macron called Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune. French officials said they had agreed to revive bilateral relations.