Iran Blasts US, Allies For Stealing Syria’s Oil

US troops entered northeast Syria in 2017, ostensibly while battling ISIS (Daesh)* caliphate terrorists concentrated along the right bank of the Euphrates River. The Pentagon has maintained a force presence in the country ever since, joining Kurdish allies in smuggling hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of oil and food out of the country.

Iran’s ambassador to the UN has slammed the continued theft of Syrian oil by the US and its allies.

“Iran once more condemns the robbery of the Syrian people’s natural resources, particularly oil products, in areas occupied by foreign forces,” Ambassador Saeed Iravani said at a Security Council meeting on Syria on Wednesday.

“Peace and security in Syria’s north can only be accomplished by upholding and fully respecting the country’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and any military action there would only worsen the already severe humanitarian situation,” the diplomat added.

The ambassador demanded the immediate end of the “illegal presence of foreign forces” on Syrian territory, emphasizing that the occupation of Syrian lands has only served to create “ideal conditions for terrorist activities.”

Iravani also pointed to the grim humanitarian situation in the country, including a cholera outbreak, the need for basic humanitarian assistance by 15.3 million of its residents, electricity shortages, food insecurity, and lack of access to healthcare and education. All of these problems have been exacerbated by Western sanctions, he said, as highlighted in Secretary General Guterres’ latest report on the crisis in Syria.

“Therefore, urgent measures must be made to remove such unlawful measures, which will only prolong the people’s misery,” Iravani urged.

The Iranian diplomat also pointed to the problems caused by Israel’s ongoing campaign of air strikes against Syria, accusing the Security Council of maintaining “a deafening silence on the Israeli regime’s continued aggressions and terrorist attacks.”

Iran has played a key role in supporting Syria’s military against an array of terrorist forces and rebel groups starting in 2012. The Islamic Republic has also provided the country with billions of dollars in emergency fuel aid, sending it via tanker through the Arabian and Red Sea to the Mediterranean, facing a gauntlet of suspected Israeli attempts to sabotage deliveries along the way.

Syria’s energy minister has estimated that upwards of 90 percent of the country’s oil resources are currently held by the US occupation forces. Before the US-, Gulf State- and Turkish-backed dirty war against Damascus began in 2011, Syria enjoyed energy self-sufficiency and modest export earnings from its oil and gas resources.

* A terrorist group outlawed in Russia and many other countries.