U.S. troops will remain in Syria until Iran withdraws its forces, a top U.S. official said Monday.
“We’re not going to leave as long as Iranian troops are outside Iranian borders and that includes Iranian proxies and militias,” White House national security adviser John Bolton said while traveling in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, according to the Associated Press.
Bolton’s pledge points to the broader strategic significance of the Syrian civil war, which has seen Russia and Iran intervene in support of dictator Bashar Assad. The U.S. has backed anti-Assad forces, but restricted most U.S. activity to the destruction of the Islamic State as a land-holding terrorist organization. But Iran’s spread through the country alarms neighboring Israel and U.S. officials, who worry about the regime’s expanded ability to project power and support terrorism.
“Regime change in Iran is not the administration’s policy,” Bolton told reporters. “What we expect from Iran is massive changes in their behavior. And, until that happens, we will continue to exert what the president has called maximum pressure. That’s what we intend to do.”
Bolton has tried to broker a deal in which Russia would support the withdrawal of Iran from Syria, but those efforts saw a setback on Monday when the Kremlin confirmed plans to upgrade Syria’s anti-aircraft defenses. That decision comes in response to the downing of a Russian surveillance plane last week when the Syrian regime tried to defend against an Israeli airstrike. Moscow accused Israel of using the Russian plane as “cover,” which Israel denies, and the announcement drew a rebuke from Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“We’re finding lots of places where they’re working against American interests and we will hold them accountable for so doing,” Pompeo said.
