US envoys tour to reassure on Syria

A US delegation will visit Jordan, Turkey and Israel to co-ordinate and reassure Syria’s neighbours as the government of Bashar Al Assad and its Russian and Iranian allies prepare an offensive against rebel-held Idlib.

The US State Department said on Friday that James Jeffrey, special representative to Syria, and special envoy for Syria Joel Rayburnall, began the tour yesterday.

In Israel, the delegation “will meet senior government officials to discuss our shared interest, in reference to Syria, in maintaining Israel’s security while countering Iran’s destabilising activity throughout the region”, the State Department said.

“They will also underscore that the US will respond to any chemical weapons attack perpetrated by the Syrian regime.”

In Jordan and Turkey, Mr Jeffrey and Mr Rayburn will also focus on Syria and “reiterate the US position that a military offensive in Idlib will escalate the crisis in Syria and the region, risk the lives of humanitarians and Syrian civilians, and destroy civilian infrastructure”, the statement said.

The delegation will address what it called Moscow’s “specious allegations of international plans to stage a chemical weapons attack in Syria”.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticised Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for “defending the Syrian and Russian assault”.

“Sergey Lavrov is defending Syrian and Russian assault on Idlib,” Mr Pompeo tweeted on Friday. “The Russians and Assad agreed not to permit this. The US sees this as an escalation of an already dangerous conflict.”

US options are limited in Syria but an official told The

Washington Post on Thursday that: “Right now, our job is to help create quagmires for Russia and Syrian until we get what we want.

“This approach involves reassuring the three key US allies on Syria’s border – Israel, Turkey and Jordan – of continued American involvement.”