Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that it was not up to Moscow to persuade the Islamic republic of Iran to pull its forces out of Syria. Speaking at a forum in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, Putin stressed that Iran’s complete pullout could only be resolved by means of dialogue between Tehran, Damascus and Washington. Putin said “This is not exactly our problem, persuading Iran to get out of Syrian territory. Both Syria and Iran are sovereign states. They should build their relations themselves.” / “As for the complete pullout, this is a separate issue. It should be resolved by means of dialogue between Iran and Syria, Iran and the United States. We are also ready to be part of this discussion.” President Putin further asserted that the countries demanding Iran’s departure from Syria, must first halt their support of terror organizations operating in the war-torn-country against Damascus, and provide assurances that will end their meddling in Syria’s internal affairs. The Russian President stressed that “Those who want Iranian troops to leave Syrian territory, should provide guarantees that they would not meddle in Syrian Arab Republic’s internal affairs. (They should) stop financing terrorists, stop using them for political purposes in the fight against legitimate Syrian authorities and so on. It is a complex issue and it is a mutual responsibility of all the sides involved in this conflict.” While the Russian leader did not mention Israel or the United States, which are the two main actors demanding Iran’s evacuation from Syria, the statement comes after the United States reportedly demanded that Iran immediately pull-out of the war-torn-country. According to a report published by NBC news, Washington will use economic and diplomatic pressure against Iran and Russia, and will prevent the reconstruction aid from entering Syria, until all Iranian-backed forces are removed Israel’s northern neighbor. That said, Washington’s strategy will not involve a direct escalation between the U.S. military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards or Iranian-backed militias, since it would violate the American authorization for applying military force in Syria.
