US in touch with HTS to ensure ‘peaceful transition’ – John Kirby

We spoke to the White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby, and started by asking if the US is in touch with HTS, and whether it has any plans to remove the rebel group from the terror designation list.

John Kirby: I don’t have any decisions or discussions to speak to you today about removing them from the terror designation list. And as for direct communications, I’ll just say that we have ways to get the messages and to communicate with all the opposition and rebel groups. And I’ll leave it at that.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: What is the United States’ role then now?

John Kirby: We’re working with our interlocutors in the region. We’re working at the UN, we’re certainly working with opposition groups as appropriate – to see what we can do to bring about a transition, a peaceful transition, to a level of governance in Syria that meets the aspirations of the Syrian people. That’s number one. Number two, we’re going to continue to put pressure on ISIS. Just yesterday, the president announced we took some 75 strikes at ISIS camps and facilities in Syria. We’re going to continue to make sure that ISIS can’t exploit this situation and try to revitalise.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: Israel, we’ve seen, is making military strikes on what appear to be Syrian weapons storage areas. Is the United States involved in that at all?

John Kirby: We’re not involved in those operations. I’ll let the Israelis speak to that. They have made it clear, I think they’ve made statements today, that this is a temporary measure – an exigent measure – based on their own self-defence. They should speak to that. We obviously want to see all neighbours in the region continue to work with us and the UN through that process to bring about, again, a level of governance in Syria that is efficient, effective and reflects the voices of the Syrian people.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: Israel has also expanded, what most of the world regards, as illegal settlements around the Golan Heights. What’s the United States’ position on that?

John Kirby: I think our view on settlements has been very, very clear and very consistent. I don’t have anything to add to that. Again, we know Israel has a right to self-defence. Nobody, no nation, would want to live next to a threat that could actually put their own people and their very sovereignty at risk. And so, again, I’ll let Israel speak to their operations. We’re in touch with them, as you would expect we would be. We want to make sure they can have the tools they need to defend themselves, but also that how they do it matters. And again, we’re having those discussions.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: You mentioned the United States’ work against ISIS. And you, of course, are also supporting Kurdish forces in northern Syria. Now, that is at odds with the Turkish government and the groups that they are supporting. How is that going to be resolved?

John Kirby: I disagree with the premise of the question that it is somehow at odds here. We both share a concern about terrorist activity in the northeast of Syria specifically. Now, obviously, we have a view of the SDF that the Turks don’t obviously completely share. I understand that. But our mission against ISIS is going to continue. We need the help, we want to continue to have the help of the Syrian Democratic Forces as we go after ISIS – and that will continue. And we will stay in touch with the Turks to appropriately deconflict as we need to.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: You say you share goals, but I mean, the Turks regard the Kurds as their enemies, don’t they?

John Kirby: Again, I’ll let the Turks speak to what they’re doing. They’ve made very clear their concerns about groups like the PKK. We recognise that. We understand that. And we certainly also recognise that Turkey has legitimate concerns along that border for the safety and security of their own people. And so we’re going to continue to have those discussions with the Turks going forward. We don’t want to see any diminution. We don’t want to see any operations or any policies approached that would diminish the SDF’s ability to focus on ISIS.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: In the short term, it appears to really be weakening Iran and its ability to supply Hezbollah and Palestinian groups in the Middle East. I mean, how much of a strategic goal is that for the United States to maintain as Syria finds its new future?

John Kirby: There’s no question when you look at what happened yesterday, that it’s an outgrowth of a very assertive foreign policy that Joe Biden has put in place and he’s been implementing for four years. And that is particularly to assist partners when they come under significant threats like Israel has come under and like Ukraine has come under. And I don’t think it’s any, it shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody, that some of Assad’s biggest backers, Iran and Russia, were not only unwilling to come to his assistance over the weekend, but unable to because they have been weakened and distracted by the wars, respectively, that they’ve been fighting in the Middle East and, of course, in Ukraine. And remember, Iran has been assisting Russia’s efforts in Ukraine through drone technology in particular. But there’s no doubt about when Iran wakes up and looks at the region today, it’s a vastly different region than A) it was just a few months ago and B) what they hoped it would be or what they want it to be going forward. Their axis of resistance has been deeply, deeply hurt and unable to execute their own hegemonic policies.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: So what do you say to those Syrians, and there are many of them as you know, who believe that the United States effectively abandoned them through successive administrations, that Obama’s red line meant nothing? That Trump’s airstrikes on Syria achieved nothing? And that the Biden administration has basically done nothing for four years for them?

John Kirby: We’ve obviously been operating inside Syria to go after the ISIS threat. That’s been the limit of our military activity. We remain and have remained and will remain in contact with aid organisations around the world to make sure that humanitarian assistance needs are being met, particularly now. And we’ll continue to work towards a UN-led process, as the president said, to make sure that the aspirations of those Syrian people can be fully met by a governing authority that actually represents them and listens to their voices. And that’s what we’re going to be focused on.

Krishnan Guru-Murthy: So just to be clear on that, it does not sound like you think HTS is the future of Syria, that they cannot remain in control?

John Kirby: I didn’t say that at all. I said we’re going to be working with the opposition groups, the rebel groups here, as well as interlocutors in the region, to make sure that the aspirations of the Syrian people can be met. Mr al-Golani is saying the right things. Some of the other rebel groups that are in Damascus right now, because it’s not just HTS, are also saying the right things about how they’re not going to persecute minorities and how they’re going to try to establish a legitimate governing authority, how they have moderated their views. We’ll see. Back to your first question about removing them from the list, I don’t have any discussions to speak to. We’re going to watch and see what they do. We’re going to be monitoring this closely and we’re going to be working with partners in the region to see what we can do from the United States perspective – through the UN and other bodies – to bring about that kind of governance in Syria.