Iran opposes ISIS-free zone in Syria

Iran is opposed to US-Turkish plans to keep northern Syria free of ISIS terrorists, claiming that a buffer zone would violate Syrian sovereignty.

Iran opposes the idea of an ISIS-free buffer zone in Syria. The US and Turkey proposed the buffer zone as a way to clear the Islamic State from the area around the Turkish-Syrian border. Iran, which supports the Assad regime, claims the buffer zone is a violation of Syrian sovereignty.

“Creation of a buffer zone inside Syria is a violation of the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian told Fars News Agency on Thursday.

“The security of Syria and its neighbors will be ensured on condition that certain players give up using terrorism as an instrument and also there would be serious determination for combating extremism,” he said, according to Iran’s Press TV.

Iran is the main sponsor of the Lebanese terrorist organization, Hezbollah, which is heavily involved in the war in Syria on the side of the Assad regime. It also funds terrorism throughout the region, including support of Hamas in Gaza, Shiite militias in Iraq and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry rejected the idea of a buffer zone to combat ISIS as far back as October, when it stated, on behalf of the Syrian government, “The Turkish attempts to establish a buffer zone on the Syrian soil is a flagrant violation to the charters of the UN and international law… Syria totally rejects the establishment of a buffer zone on any part of its terrain under any pretext and also rejects the foreign military intervention on its soil.”

By: Sara Abramowicz, United with Israel