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Hezbollah Defies Alleged Secret US Offer on Tit-for-Tat Withdrawal From Syria

© Sputnik / Mikhail Voskresenskiy / Go to the mediabankHezbollah fighters at the front-line of the Syrian Arab Army near Palmyra–Homs road
Hezbollah fighters at the front-line of the Syrian Arab Army near Palmyra–Homs road - Sputnik International
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Earlier, Lebanese media reported that officials from US intelligence and security agencies had secretly traveled to Damascus in June to meet with Syrian officials, and to offer to pull US forces out of Syria in exchange for a withdrawal of Iranian advisers, the sharing of intelligence on terrorists, and a share of the spoils from Syrian oil sales.

Speaking on Monday, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem described the tit-for-tat offer allegedly proposed by US officials during the meeting in June as "meaningless," and emphasized that only the "victors" are eligible to set any conditions on peace in Syria, and not Washington, which has suffered a defeat.

Hezbollah and the Syrian government were enjoying "successive victories for Syria and its axis," Qassem said, according to PressTV. "We have lifted this black cloud, victories will continue, and we will achieve more," he added.

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The deputy leader of the Lebanese political and militant group also urged "all factions counting on America" to "reconsider" their alliances, suggesting that the United States holds no loyalty to its partners.

"They are Saudi Arabia's allies, and tomorrow Saudi Arabia will see that the first strike it will get will be from America," Qassem said.

Hezbollah has been a key ally of the Syrian government in the war in Syria, and has played a major role in the fight against jihadist terrorists (including Daesh/ISIS*) in both Syria and Iraq, since 2014.

Missiles are on display during a parade marking National Army Day at the mausoleum of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 18, 2018. - Sputnik International
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Last week, Lebanon's Al Akhbar newspaper reported that Damascus had turned down an alleged secret US offer to withdraw from the Arab Republic, including its forces in At-Tanf, and the Kurdish-controlled East Euphrates, in exchange for concessions from the Assad government on Iran, intelligence sharing and oil.

Among the conditions was the demand that Iran, which unlike the United States sent its military advisors to Syria at the request of the Syrian government to help fight Islamist militants, also withdraw. Damascus has said repeatedly that the issue of foreign military forces on Syrian territory "concerns the sovereignty of Syria" and is not up for debate.

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

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