Report: US Offered To Withdraw Troops From Syria in Exchange for Assad Cutting Ties With Iran

Officials told The New York Times that Israeli airstrikes and offers from the US were part of a 'two-pronged approach' to pressure Assad

The US had proposed the idea of withdrawing its troops from eastern Syria and possibly lifting sanctions in exchange for the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad cutting ties with Iran and Hezbollah, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The report said the offer to pull out troops and other proposals made by the US and Gulf Arab states were made in coordination with Israeli strikes on Syria as part of a “two-pronged approach” to pressure Assad to abandon his alliance with Iran and Hezbollah, which would impede weapons shipments from Iran to Lebanon.

Since October 2023, Israel has dramatically stepped up airstrikes on Syria, bombing the country over 220 times. The Times report said that Israel, with support from the US, was eager to “take advantage” of the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel to ramp up the pressure on Syria.

Officials told the Times that the offensive launched last week by the al-Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham makes it less likely that Assad would be willing to cut ties with Iran or Hezbollah since he’ll need their help with the fighting.

Reuters also reported this week that the US and the UAE had offered sanctions relief to Syria if it ended its alliance with Iran and cut off weapons shipments to Lebanon. That report said that the HTS offensive was “a signal of precisely the sort of weakness in Assad’s alliance with Iran that the Emirati and US initiative aims to exploit” but also acknowledged it could increase his reliance on Iran.

The US claims it maintains troops in eastern Syria to fight ISIS, but the reports make clear the occupation and the US sanctions campaign, which have had a devastating impact on Syrian civilians, are about keeping pressure on Iran and its allies to benefit Israel.

The Times report said another proposal floated to Assad was for Gulf Arab countries to provide aid to Syria. In recent years, many regional countries that previously supported the regime change effort against Assad have normalized relations with Damascus, and Syria has been brought back into the Arab League.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.