US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Wednesday made the claim that Russia's interaction with Iran on Syria run counter to the interests of Syrians.
"Russia has a completely different set of views on Iran. They are working with it in Syria against the interests of the people of Syria. We regret that Russia made this decision. < ... > The United States is most invested in efforts to provide humanitarian assistance in Syria, and Russia, alas, is working against these interests and in parallel with the interests of Iran," the US Foreign Minister said, speaking at a video conference organized by the Hill newspaper.
During the event, he also reiterated that Washington considered it necessary to extend the arms embargo against Iran.
Since the beginning of the Syrian conflict, Russia has opposed foreign intervention in it, insisting on finding a political solution to end the civil war. Russia supports the Syrian government and believes that Bashar al-Assad is the legally elected President of the country, whose political fate should be decided by the Syrians themselves.
Moscow is one of the initiators of the political settlement and negotiations between the Syrian government and the opposition.
Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, Iran has sided with official Damascus, providing it with military and financial assistance. For example, detachments of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Tehran-controlled units of the Shia organization Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, support the Syrian army.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS