US Continues Training Militants in Syria’s Al-Tanf Area

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Thursday that the American troops deployed in al-Tanf and al-Rookban areas in the Syrian badia continue training the terrorists to encourage them continue fighting against the Syrian government.

“In this area, where Americans have unilaterally declared their territory around the al-Tanf and the Rookban refugee camps, very strange things are happening, including the training of militants, which is being conducted in order for them to continue fighting despite the ceasefire agreements fire,” Lavrov said, according to Sputnik.

 There is one US military base in Syria in the al-Tanf area, where training and equipment of armed groups are conducted.

The Rookban refugee camp is located in the “security zone” next to the US military base al-Tanf, illegally deployed in April 2017 under the pretext of fighting terrorists.

Since 2016, the US has been training militants at its military base in al-Tanf. Moscow asserted concerns that Washington was “spewing Daesh mobile groups who make inroads to launch subversive terrorist operations against Syrian troops and civilians.”

Eastern Ghouta Situation

The issue of the elimination of terrorists in the de-escalation zone of Eastern Ghouta has largely been resolved, Sergei Lavrov said.

De-escalation zones were created on a temporary basis, grounded on the fact that after the tasks assigned to these zones are resolved and when it will be possible to return to peaceful life, they will cease to exist, according to him.

“At the same time, the de-escalation regime, of course, does not extend to terrorists, which, according to the decisions of the UN Security Council, must be destroyed and eliminated. In Eastern Ghouta, this problem was largely resolved, since those groups that either consolidated with Jabhat al-Nusra and other terrorist groups, or themselves violated the cease-fire regime, were either liquidated or withdrawn from there. Thus, the Syrian government has restored its control over Eastern Ghouta, and the de-escalation mission has been accomplished in this part of Syria,” he stated.

World to be Deprived of Key Non-Proliferation Doc if US Quits Iran Deal – Lavrov

Lavrov also commented on Israel with its so-called IAEA data on Iran’s nuclear program.

Russia is calling on Israel to immediately provide information on Iran continuing its nuclear program to the International Atomic Energy Agency if it has any, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

“If Israel or anyone else received documents which allegedly prove Iran still having plans to develop nuclear weapons, then these documents should be given to the IAEA, which is responsible for implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of action [on Iranian nuclear program] immediately,” Lavrov noted.

Israel’s allleged evidence of Iran continuing its nuclear weapons program is probably related to an earlier period already taken into account by the IAEA, according to Lavrov.

“Experts who participated in the preparation of the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan and whose comments I heard show that these documents, refer to past activities that have already been taken into account by the IAEA inspection,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an internationally-televised address on April 30, claimed that Israeli intelligence had 100,000 files proving that Iran continued tosustain a secret nuclear program despite signing the JCPOA. The White House a day later said it backed Netanyahu’s assertions while US President Donald Trump is expected to announce its decision on the agreement before May 12 deadline.

“And if the US, as President Donald Trump has repeatedly stated, will announce withdrawal from this agreement, then, of course, all of us, the international community, will lose one of the most important tools contributing to ensuring the non-proliferation regime for weapons of mass destruction”, Sergei Lavrov said.

Donald Trump has called the situation around the Iran nuclear deal “unacceptable” in the light of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statements.

The US and some EU countries are seeking to sabotage the adoption of a Russian-Chinese draft statement in support of the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the JCPOA.

In 2015, the European Union and the P5+1 group of countries — China, Germany, France, Russia, the UK and the US — signed the JCPOA with Iran. The accord specified a gradual lifting of anti-Iranian sanctions in exchange for Tehran restraining its nuclear program and allowing inspections to ensure that the nature of the program is peaceful.

H.M