Syrian Foreign Minister Assad al-Shabani said he was “stubborn” to CNN Israel’s strike in Syria after the collapse of Assad’s regime, having been “difficult” debating normalization.
In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria at the Foreign Relations Council aired Sunday, Al-Sibani criticized Israel for “scattering” the Syrian government in the face of a surge in sectarian violence in the South.
The Syrian minister vowed, “A strong and unified Syria will be good for the safety of the region, and that will benefit Israel.”
The collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship – a major alliance of Israel’s Arch for Iran – In December last year, Israel launched airstrikes on military targets in Syria, deploying ground troops in both the buffer zone, which was criticized for the first time in 50 years.
Israel said the strike was part of preventing chemical weapons stocks and long-range missiles from falling “in the hands of extremists.”
However, the Syrian people were “unstood” by the attack, al-Shabani said in particular that “the militias in Iran or Hezbollah left all of these militias in the late regime.”
“We are not a threat to anyone in the region, including Israel, but these new policies of cooperation and peace have been met by these threats and strikes,” Al-Sabani responded to a question about the possibility of normalization between Syria and Israel following military action.
“So it’s a bit difficult to talk about normalization and Abraham’s agreement,” he said. He mentioned a series of groundbreaking agreements that established relations between Israel and three Arab countries in 2020.
Despite the tensions, Israel says talks are taking place with Syria, which could lead to a security agreement.
Syrian violence has been on fire since the collapse of Assad’s regime. Hundreds of people were killed in March during crackdowns on the Alawian denomination to which Assad belonged, and in April, clashes broke out between the government’s troops and the Druze militia.
Further clashes broke out in July when Syrian government forces intervened after an attack between the Druze tribes and local Bedouins. It cites Israeli airstrikes, and Israel’s commitment to protecting Druze.
Asked what Israel had done during the intervention, Al Shabani said: “It supported outlaws and outlaw groups, which prevented and hindered the Syrian government from solving problems between the Bedouin and the Druze,” he said.
“What Israel did complicate the matter and created a druze in a very difficult and embarrassing situation,” he added.
In an interview, Al-Shabani said Syrians welcomed the US move to lift the country’s penalty restrictions imposed “on the late regime.”
“Since the day of liberation, the US position visiting Syria has been a very positive position and has actually been met with great support among the Syrian people, including the lifting of sanctions,” he said.
Earlier this week, Syrian Ahmed al-Shara made his UN debut, calling for the complete lifting of sanctions on his country, “so they should no longer tie the Syrian people.”
“We have suffered from injustice, deprivation and oppression,” former jihadist Alshara told diplomats about the rule and collapse of Assad’s regime. “Then we rose to our feet by asserting dignity.”
Mick Krever, Max Saltman, Mostafa Salem, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Hira Humayun from CNN contributed to this report.
