US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said Tuesday that Washington would not allow Iran to hijack the future of the Syrian people, while Moscow accused the west of preparing a fake footage of a chemical attack in the north of Syria to implicate the regime.
During a UN Security Council session Tuesday, Haley said: “No matter what type of weapons or methods are used, the United States strongly opposes any escalation of violence in Idlib.”
Haley reiterated her warning that Washington "would not allow Iran ... to hijack the future of the Syrian people.”
She also warned that the US would not allow the Syrian regime or any party to use chemical weapons.
One year ago, Russia, Iran and Turkey, known as the Astana guarantors, oversaw the creation of four de-escalation zones in Syria, supposed to be safer for civilians.
Haley said her country would respond to the use of chemical weapons. “We stand by this warning.”
For its part, Moscow fiercely criticized Washington’s possible use of “force” as a response to the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
Russia said a fake footage of "chemical attacks” in Jisr al-Shugur has been designed to facilitate the implication of Syrian regime forces in the use of chemical weapons.
"According to the information received from inhabitants of Idlib province, militants are now filming a staged provocation in the city of Jisr al-Shugur, where chemical weapons are depicted as being used by the Syrian army against civilians,” the Russian Center for Syrian Reconciliation reported.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned that a Syrian government offensive on Idlib could scatter thousands of foreign terrorists abroad, posing a security threat to the West.
“There are in all likelihood dozens of French fighters from both Al-Qaeda and ISIS” in Idlib, Le Drian said.
He warned there were “also many terrorists from other nations who could scatter” in the event of a joint Syrian-Russian offensive, posing “risks for our security.”
Le Drian estimated at “between 10,000 and 15,000” the number of terrorists left in Idlib.
At the battlefield, Turkey continued to send military reinforcements to its border with Syria and inside the province of Idlib.
The Turkish Army also asked factions from the Free Syrian Army to join its Operation Euphrates Shield and Operation Olive Branch.
