Washington refuses to exchange Iran's presence in Syria

NEWS DESK

The Arab press on Saturday touched upon the US-Russian messages on the Syrian file.

Al-Sharaq Al-Awsat: Washington refuses to trade Iran's existence by reducing sanctions

The Arab newspapers issued on Saturday about the Syrian issue dealt with several topics, the most important of which was the US-Russian letters on Syria. In this context, al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper said, Kremlin avoided on Friday to speed to announce a position on the statements of the US special envoy to Syria James Jeffrey. While the sources close to the decision-making saw a retreat from the previous tone of Washington, and the recognition of central role of Russia in the Syrian settlement. Jeffrey said that his country refused to exchange the Iranian presence in Syria with the file of sanctions on Tehran.

The newspaper added, "A Russian diplomatic source told the media outlets on Friday that the letters that Jeffrey sent to Moscow during a press interview with Russian governmental media outlets deserved to be stopped and considered, justifying that by the lack of a prompt official reaction from Russian diplomacy."

Jeffrey also said that his country rejects the idea of exchanging the Iranian presence in Syria with the sanctions on Tehran file explaining, "If the idea of the swap of the Iranian forces' withdrawal from Syria is proposed by weakening sanctions on Iran, we will not accept that under any circumstances, and the US sanctions on Iran are not related to Syria, but they resulted of Washington's concern about Iran's nuclear file and its activities in the area."

The Russian source saw according to the newspaper, "Jeffrey's recent comments are in the same direction and constitute a new effort to establish a wedge in the relationship between Russia and Iran," adding that although some of the letters sent by Jeffrey were positive and can be dealt with, still do not provide sufficient confidence to Moscow with US intentions."

AL-Hayat: Ankara sets a deadline for Washington to implement the road map in the Syrian city, Manbij

Al-Hayat said that the Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu called on the United States to implement the road map for the Syrian city of Manbij until the end of the year. "The roadmap for Manbij agreed between the United States and Turkey must be completed before the end of this year," Çavuşoğlu said in an interview with CNN.

(T/S)

ANHA