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US Stresses Continued Support for Kurdish SDF

The SDF delegation at the White House. (Syrian Democratic Forces official website)
The SDF delegation at the White House. (Syrian Democratic Forces official website)
    Qamishli, Washington, Damascus - Kamal Sheikho and Asharq Al-Awsat
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US Stresses Continued Support for Kurdish SDF

The SDF delegation at the White House. (Syrian Democratic Forces official website)
The SDF delegation at the White House. (Syrian Democratic Forces official website)

US President Joe Biden’s administration is committed to its partnership with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), officials told a Kurdish delegation visiting Washington.

The US is keen to support regional stability and its forces will remain in the region until the total elimination of ISIS and its remnants, the White House officials added.

The SDF delegation met with high-ranking representatives of the US administration in the White House, a statement read.

The US officials expressed support for the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) and SDF in the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria’s areas, where the SDF represents a broad political alliance at the Syrian level, the statement added.

They hailed the SDF’s counterterrorism efforts and discussed means of reaching a political solution to the more than decade long crisis in Syria.

The delegation met with prominent members of the US Congress, such as congressman Brad Schneider, who is a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means and House Committee on Foreign Affairs, as well as the Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and Global Counterterrorism.

Meanwhile, the General Secretariat of the Kurdish National Council said the peaceful protests that were organized on Friday in Qamishli, in the far northeast of Syria, were attacked by the Autonomous Administration’s internal security forces.

It issued a statement denouncing the practices that limit people’s freedoms and prevent them from expressing their opinions on matters related to their livelihood.

The opposition alliance, which includes Kurdish parties, political entities and civil and social figures, accused the Autonomous Administration of forcibly dispersing protesters, arresting one of them and beating civilians who refused to end the rally.

The Kurdish Council had called on its supporters and residents in northeastern Syria to demonstrate peacefully against the Autonomous Administration’s recent decision to raise the prices of basic commodities.

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FM: Iraq Wants Iran-backed Factions to Lay Down Weapons

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks during an interview in London, Britain, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Marissa Davison
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks during an interview in London, Britain, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Marissa Davison
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FM: Iraq Wants Iran-backed Factions to Lay Down Weapons

Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks during an interview in London, Britain, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Marissa Davison
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein speaks during an interview in London, Britain, January 15, 2025. REUTERS/Marissa Davison

Iraq is trying to convince powerful armed factions in the country that have fought US forces and fired rockets and drones at Israel to lay down their weapons or join official security forces, Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said.

The push comes with a backdrop of seismic shifts in the Middle East that have seen Iran's armed allies in Gaza and Lebanon heavily degraded and Syria's government overthrown.

The incoming US Trump administration promises to pile more pressure on Tehran, which has long backed a number of political parties and an array of armed factions in Iraq.

Some Baghdad officials are concerned the status quo there may be upended next, but Hussein played this down in an interview with Reuters during an official visit to London.

"We don't think that Iraq is the next," Hussein said.

The government was in talks to rein in the groups while continuing to walk the tightrope between its ties to both Washington and Tehran, he said.
"Two or three years ago it was impossible to discuss this topic in our society," he said.

But now, having armed groups functioning outside the state was not acceptable.

"Many political leaders, many political parties started to raise a discussion, and I hope that we can convince the leaders of these groups to lay down their arms, and then to be part of the armed forces under the responsibility of the government," Hussein said.

Iraq's balancing act has been tested by Iran-backed Iraqi armed groups' attacks on Israel and on US troops in the country they say are in solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war.

A promised Gaza ceasefire has the government breathing a sigh of relief, though uncertainty prevails over how the country may fare after Donald Trump becomes US president.

During the last Trump presidency, relations grew tense as he ordered the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad in 2020, leading to an Iranian ballistic missile attack on an Iraqi base housing US forces.

"We hope that we can continue this good relationship with Washington," Hussein said. "It is too early now to talk about which policy President Trump is going to follow for Iraq or Iran."

Iraq will only be reassured about Syria when it sees an inclusive political process, Hussein said, adding Baghdad would supply the country with grain and oil once it could be assured it would go to all Syrians.
Baghdad was in talks with Syria's foreign minister over a visit to Iraq, he said.

"We are worried about the ISIS, so we are in contact with the Syrian side to talk about these things, but at the end to have a stable Syria means to have the representative of all components in the political process."

Baghdad and Washington last year agreed to end the US-led coalition's work by September 2026 and transition to bilateral military ties, but Hussein said that the developments in Syria would have to be watched.

"In the first place, we are thinking about security of Iraq and stability in Iraq. If there will be a threat to our country, of course it will be a different story," he said.