Russia enabled Al Assad chemical attack, says US
Tillerson blames Moscow for not getting rid of the toxic weapons
WASHINGTON // Trump administration officials yesterday blamed Russian inaction for enabling last week’s chemical attack in Syria as US secretary of state Rex Tillerson prepared to explain Washington’s retaliatory missile strikes to Moscow.
Mr Tillerson said Syria was able to execute the attack that killed scores of people because Moscow had failed to carry out a 2013 agreement to secure and destroy chemical weapons in Syria.
“I think the real failure here has been Russia’s failure to live up to its commitments under the chemical weapons agreements that were entered into in 2013,” he said. Meanwhile, White House national security adviser Gen H R McMaster said Syria’s “sponsors”, Russia and Iran, were enabling Syrian president Bashar Al Assad’s “campaign of mass murder against his own civilians”.
The remarks came as allies of Damascus threatened reprisals against any party that carried out aggression against Syria.
“The aggression against Syria oversteps all red lines,” said a statement from the Syria-based joint operations room for Russia, Iran and allied forces, including Hizbollah.
“We will react firmly to any aggression against Syria and to any infringement of red lines, whoever carries them out.”
On Friday, the US carried out missile strikes on a Syrian airbase in Washington’s first military action against Mr Al Assad’s government since the start of Syria’s six-year war.
It came after a chemical attack on the rebel-held Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun on Tuesday in which at least 87 people, including many children, were killed.
The Syrian government denied it was behind the attack.
Mr Tillerson, who is expected to be in Moscow on Wednesday for talks with Russian officials, said yesterday there was “no change” to the US military posture towards Syria. But Gen McMaster said the US would take further action in Syria if necessary.
“We’re prepared to do more,” he said. “In fact, we were prepared to do more two days ago. The president will make whatever decision he thinks is in the best interests of the American people.”
He said Russian leaders were supporting “a murderous regime” and their actions would dictate the future of US-Russian relations.
Mr Tillerson stopped short of accusing Russia of direct involvement in planning or carrying out the chemical attack, saying he had not seen “any hard evidence” to suggest Moscow was an accomplice to Mr Al Assad.
But he said the US expected Russia to take a tougher stance by rethinking its alliance with Mr Al Assad because “every time one of these horrific attacks occurs, it draws Russia closer into some level of responsibility”. However, yesterday Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the US made a “strategic mistake” by attacking Syria, according to the Irna state news agency.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will not leave the field in the face of threats,” he was reported as saying, alluding to suspicions that the US intended the attack as a sign it was willing to attack other countries, including Iran.
“Former American officials created ISIL and the current leaders are reinforcing it,” he said.
On the ground in Syria, ISIL militants launched two suicide attacks on US- backed Syrian rebels near the border with Iraq, killing at least 12 people and wounding many more, rebels sources said yesterday. An attack at midnight on a heavily defended base near the Al Tanf border crossing involved at least one explosive-laden vehicle that rammed an entrance.
The militants also staged a suicide attack on a convoy of rebel fighters from the western-backed Osoud Al Sharqiya rebel group.
Two of the fighters in the convoy were killed in the ambush.