President Bashar Assad’s Damascus regime has vowed to use all means necessary to recapture every inch of the Golan Heights, which Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mouallem underscored, “remains occupied Syrian territory.”
During a joint-press-conference with visiting Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza, the Syrian top diplomat reiterated that his country’s right to the Golan Heights is unshakable, and as such, “Syria will liberate the occupied Golan by all means and all options are on the table.” According to him: “Our right in Golan does not disappear with years. It is a steady right because our territory is holy. We will liberate every centimetre of Syrian occupied territories.”
Al-Mouallem further stressed that “Israel must understand (Syria’s) determination.” He said, ‘it has the resolve and aspirations necessary, which can be clearly observed since the country plunged into war in 2011.’ The war, according to the Damascus Foreign Minister, “aimed to protect Syria’s sovereignty and independence and to liberate every inch of its territories,” including the Golan Heights. In his words, “As we said, by all means, this means the military options is one of the options. We have not excluded the military option.”
When asked about the U.S. Administration‘s decision to recognize Israel’s annexation of the territory, Al-Mouallem said: “Trump’s attempt to give Israel sovereignty over the Golan Heights has only one effect, which has been verified in the latest discussions in the United Nations Security Council, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League. The effect is that it will increase U.S. isolation even from its closest allies.”
The Syrian Foreign Minister also accused the United States of lying about its declared military disengagement from the war-torn country, and referred to the ongoing U.S. presence in Syria as “an illegal and illegitimate deployment.”
Neither the Israeli Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, nor the U.S. State department in Washington immediately responded to TV7’s request for comment.