Washington threatens Iranian militias in Syria

The US State Department has pledged to expel Iranian militias from all Syrian lands, confirming that it will seek to eliminate Iranian militias and also those associated with them.

This promise was made by the Assistant Under Secretary of State and Special Envoy to Syria, Joel Rayborn, during his testimony before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives.

Speaking about the evolution of the situation in Syria, Rayburn said his country is also focusing its efforts on going after the remnants of al-Qaeda and ISIS in Syrian territories.

The US special envoy added that Washington is working to toughen sanctions against President Bashar Al-Assad’s inner circle, based on the “Caesar Law.”

During the same session, the committee’s senior member, Michael McCall, warned about the activities of Turkey and the militias it supports in the Idlib governorate in the north of the country, calling it a time bomb.

Rayburn responded to this point by saying that Ankara provides training to groups that were previously active in the “Syrian Democratic Forces – Qasd”, but that Ankara had recruited them under an umbrella known as the “Syrian National Army”, which is a faction that has the Syrian regular forces and Damascus-supported groups are targeted.

This is the last session of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives before the new House opens on January 3.