Iraq, Iran and Syria at a rare meeting in Damascus

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Iraq, Iran and Syria at a rare meeting in Damascus

 18/03/2019  20

Syria, Iran and Iraq will hold a rare meeting in Damascus to discuss ways to combat terrorism, the Syrian daily Al Watan reported on Monday.

The newspaper gave no further details on the other topics for discussion at the meeting nor its timing or place.

Iran is among the strongest supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during the nearly eight-year civil war and is a close ally of Iraq.

The United States has previously said it wants to limit what it calls Iran's destabilizing influence in the Middle East, especially in Iraq and Syria.

A few US troops are helping Syria's Kurdish-led democracy in the east of the country in a fierce fight and Syrian forces control a large area on the border with Iraq.

The US military base is also located in southeastern Syria near the highway connecting Baghdad to Damascus, closing the main border crossing between the two countries.

Iran and armed groups supported by the governments of Syria and Iraq are helping in their military campaigns against the Islamic state.

Iran's Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri said the US presence in Syria was illegal but would be short-lived.

"The forces in this country without coordination with the Syrian government will leave Syrian territory sooner or later," Baqeri said after arriving in Damascus.

He also described the presence of foreign forces in Idlib in northwestern Syria as illegal. 
Turkey deployed military control units along the front lines between government forces and armed opposition fighters.

The Turkish presence in Idlib and the north-west is part of an agreement between Ankara and Russia, Assad's strongest ally, to stop further fighting in that region.