U.S. Puts Conditions On Cooperating With Russia On Syria: Iran Leaves The Country And Syrian President Assad Is Removed

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks in Washington, U.S. on March 6, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo

JTA: Rex Tillerson: US wants Iran out of Syria

WASHINGTON (JTA) — A condition of U.S. cooperation with Russia in the Syria arena is the removal of Iranian forces from the country, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

“The direct presence of Iranian military forces inside of Syria, they must leave and go home, whether those are Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces or whether those are paid militias, foreign fighters, that Iran has brought into Syria in this battle,” Tillerson said Wednesday in a wide-ranging news conference.

The other condition, Tillerson said, was that the end result

should be a unified Syria with “new leadership” — the removal of the Assad regime.

Israel expressed concerns last month at the terms of a proposed cease-fire in the civil war in southern Syria in part because it left Iranian forces in place. Israel’s deadliest enemies in the region are Iran and its Lebanese ally, the Hezbollah militia, and it wants them removed from Syria as part of any endgame.

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WNU editor: I find it interesting that most outlets are muddying US Secretary of State Tillerson's U.S. conditions that need to be met before the U.S. works with Russia to bring peace to Syria. Most outlets are framing the story like this .... U.S. is working with Russia to prevent a new war in Syria, Tillerson says (Newsweek), or on Twitter accounts (see here). As to the question "will Russia accept them?" .... for now the answer is no.