U.S. President Donald Trump thanked Turkey for its efforts that helped avoid an offensive on the last opposition-held stronghold of Syria’s Idlib at the UN Security Council meeting on Wednesday.
The Russian-Turkish agreement staved off a threatened government attack by agreeing on the creation of a demilitarized zone between opposition and government forces in the northwest.
Turkey, which backs some opposition groups in Idlib, is to jointly patrol the demilitarized zone with Russia, President Bashar al-Assad’s most powerful ally. Heavy weapons are to be removed from the demilitarized zone by Oct. 10.
Trump also said the U.S. would impose sanctions on Iran “tougher than ever before."
Foes for decades, Washington and Tehran have been increasingly at odds since May, when the Republican U.S. president pulled out of the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran and announced sanctions against the OPEC member.
Trump also slammed Iran and Russia’s actions in Syria, saying that the Syrian regime’s butchery is enabled by Tehran and Moscow.
“The Iranian regime is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, and fuels conflict across the region and beyond,” Trump said.
