The State Department said Tuesday that the U.S. had “informed” the Syrian government about plans to strike Islamic State of Iraq and Syria targets inside Syria but did not request permission, coordinate with Damascus or give any indication of timing.
“We warned Syria not to engage U.S. aircraft. We did not request the regime’s permission,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement. “We did not coordinate our actions with the Syrian government. We did not provide advance notification to the Syrians at a military level, or give any indication of our timing on specific targets. “
Psaki indicated that the communication between Washington and Damascus occurred some time after President Obama’s speech to the nation Sept. 10 about his plans to confront the Islamic State threat.
“Since that speech, we informed the Syrian regime directly of our intent to take action through our Ambassador to the United Nations [Samantha Power] to the Syrian permanent representative to the United Nations,” she said.
Psaki also noted that Secretary Kerry did not send a letter to the Syrian regime.
On Tuesday morning the Syrian government told its state-run television network that the U.S. reached out through its United Nations representative to let them know about plans to strike Islamic State of Iraq and Syria targets in the terrorist stronghold of Raqqa, according to the Syrian government.
Syrian state television, an arm of Syrian President Bashar Assad, first reported the news about the U.N. serving as the go-between, according to a Reuters report Tuesday morning.
Any communication between the White House and the Assad regime before the airstrikes began is significant because efforts to defeat the Islamic State would likely strengthen Assad’s hold on power unless separate Syrian rebel forces are quickly strengthened as well.
The Syrian government in August said it welcomes U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State but only if the Obama administration coordinates them with Damascus.
President Obama and several U.S. officials have repeatedly pledged not to coordinate any military action with the Syrian government. He will give a statement at 10 a.m. before heading to the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York.
The Kremlin on Tuesday said Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed the airstrikes with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and stressed that they should not be conducted without Syria’s consent, although there was no indication on whether that phone call took place before or after the airstrikes began.
“Vladimir Putin and Ban Ki-moon have exchanged opinions on efforts of the international community joined against the ‘Islamic State’ group. Russian side emphasized, that airstrikes against the Islamic State terrorists’ bases, located on the territory of Syria, should not be conducted without the consent of Syrian government,” the Kremlin press service said in a statement, according to RIA, which operates under the purview of the Russian government.
