US national security adviser John Bolton says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s hold on power was not a strategic issue for the US and that President Donald Trump hoped to secure Russia’s help in evicting Iranian forces from the country.
Appearing on CBS on Sunday, Bolton indicated that Assad’s efforts to vanquish his opposition were not the Trump administration’s principal concern in the region.
"I don't think Assad is the strategic issue. I think Iran is the strategic issue," Bolton said.
Two Arab diplomats and a senior US official told CBS News that the administration has now accepted that Assad will remain in power for the immediate future and has decided to focus on convincing Putin to sever ties with his battlefield partner Iran.
The Wall Street Journal on Friday reported that Trump planned to seek Moscow’s help in scaling back Iran’s military presence in Syria when he meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki on July 16.
Bolton expanded on that theme on Sunday, saying Iran’s presence was a question the “two presidents will want to discuss at length.”
Iran’s military advisors–who are in Syria at the official request of its government–have been instrumental in pushing back a militancy largely spearheaded by the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group in the Arab nation.
Iranian forces, largely providing aid on the ground, changed the course of the seven-year war in Syria after the introduction of Russian air forces in 2015.
Larger Negotiation
“There are possibilities for doing a larger negotiation on helping to get Iranian forces out of Syria and back into Iran, which would be a significant step forward,” Bolton said.
Skeptics question whether the Kremlin has sufficient leverage over Assad to induce Tehran to withdraw its forces from Syria.
In an interview with Arabic news channel Al-Alam in mid June, Assad said relations between Iran and Syria are “strategic and will not be influenced by issues relating to the north or the south.” He said Saudi Arabia has repeatedly conveyed to him that if he were to cut ties with Tehran, the situation in the country “would return back to normal,” but he said he is not going to “trade away” ties with Iran.
Regarding reports about differences within the coalition of Syria, Iran and Russia, Assad first said that relations between Iran and Syria have been stable for 40 years. He added that Syria has had relations of varying degrees with Russia for seven decades. On the issue of differences, Assad said it is natural to have differences on “daily tactical” issues, but these differences are resolved through negotiations between the sides involved.
