Iranian official: Assad forces to be in Raqqa soon

Syria deal could be on agenda for Putin-Trump meeting at Vietnam economic summit this week

Syrian government forces will advance soon to take Raqqa city, which US-backed fighters seized from Islamic State last month, a senior Iranian official said on Friday.

Ali Akbar Velayati, the top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, also accused the United States of seeking to divide Syria by stationing its forces east of the Euphrates River.

“We will witness in the near future the advance of government and popular forces in Syria and east of the Euphrates, and the liberation of Raqqa city,” he said in televised comments on a visit to Beirut.

Since early in the Syrian war, Iran has provided critical military support to the Damascus government, helping it regain swaths of land from rebels and jihadists.

Last month, US-backed militias declared victory in Raqqa, Islamic State’s former headquarters in Syria, after months of fighting with the help of the US-led coalition.

The Syrian Democratic Forces, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias, is also battling Islamic State in eastern Syria with US-led air strikes and special forces. The SDF assault in Deir al-Zor has focused on territory east of the river, which bisects the oil-rich province.

The Syrian Army, with Russian air power and Iran-backed militias, is waging its own separate offensive against Islamic State there, mostly to the west of the river.

The US-led coalition and the Russian military have been holding “deconfliction” meetings – to prevent clashes between their respective planes and troops – though the two offensives have sometimes come into conflict.

The US-led coalition against Islamic State has repeatedly said it does not seek to fight Syrian President Bashar Assad’s military.

After capturing Raqqa, the SDF said the people of the majority Arab city would decide their own future “within the framework of a decentralized, federal, democratic Syria.”

The Kurdish-led SDF pledged “to protect the frontiers of [Raqqa] province against all external threats” and to hand control to a civil council from the city.

But last week, Damascus said it deemed Raqqa “occupied” until the Syrian Army took control.

Also on Friday, the Syrian government declared victory over Islamic State in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, a big blow to the jihadists as their last stronghold in Syria crumbles.

Deir al-Zor, on the west bank of the Euphrates River, is the largest and most important city in eastern Syria, and is the center of the country’s oil production.

“The armed forces, in cooperation with allied forces, liberated the city of Deir al-Zor completely from the clutches of the Daesh [ISIS] terrorist organization,” the military source said.

The army, backed by Russian bombers, Iran and Shi‘ite militias, is advancing toward the last significant town held by Islamic State in Syria, Albu Kamal, which is also located on the western bank of the Euphrates.

A rival offensive by Kurdish and Arab militias supported by a US-led coalition with air strikes and special forces, is pressing Islamic State on the eastern bank.

Iraqi forces on Friday said they had begun their own final offensive against Islamic State on the Iraqi side of the jihadist territory that straddles the border between the two countries, entering the city of al-Qaim.

Islamic State had for years besieged a government enclave in Deir al-Zor until an army advance relieved it in early September, starting a battle for jihadist-held parts of the city.

The army captured al-Hamidiya, Sheikh Yassin, al-Ardhi and al-Rashidia districts in recent attacks and the al-Hawiqa district was the last to be held by the jihadists, a military media unit run by the army’s ally Hezbollah reported.

Engineering units were searching streets and buildings in those districts for mines and booby traps left by Islamic State, the military source said.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, may discuss a Syria settlement at an Asian economic summit in Vietnam next week, the RIA news agency reported on Saturday.

Relations between Moscow and Washington have soured further since Putin and Trump first met at a G20 summit in Hamburg in July, when they discussed allegations of Russian meddling in the US election, but agreed to focus on better ties.

Tensions have risen over the war in Syria, after Russia vetoed a United Nations plan to continue an ongoing investigation into chemical weapons.

A Syria settlement “is being discussed” for the agenda of a possible meeting between the two presidents, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by RIA, adding it was in their common interest to have enough time to discuss the issue.

“Somehow or another it requires cooperation,” Peskov said.

Trump told Fox News last week that it was possible he would meet Putin during his Asia trip.

“We may have a meeting with Putin,” he said.

“And, again – Putin is very important because they can help us with North Korea. They can help us with Syria. We have to talk about Ukraine.”