Syria will stay out of Iran conflict unless it faces aggression, president says

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Tuesday that his country will ​stay out of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran unless Syria is subject to ‌aggression and has no diplomatic solutions.

“Unless Syria is targeted by any party, Syria will remain outside any conflict,” the Syrian president said at an event hosted ​by think tank Chatham House in London, Reuters reported.

“We do not want Syria ​to be an arena of war. But unfortunately, today, things ⁠are not governed by wise minds. The situation is volatile and ​random,” the president said.

The month-long conflict has spread across the region, killing thousands, ​disrupting energy supplies, and threatening to send the global economy into a tailspin.

“We want Syria to have ideal relationships with the entire region, with Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, ​and world powers like the UK, France, Germany and the U.S. I think that Syria is ​qualified to start a strategic relationship network,” he said, responding to a question on ‌whether ⁠Syria would stay neutral while the conflict goes on.

Syria has been keen to stay on the sidelines of the regional conflict that has pulled in neighbouring countries, including Lebanon, where armed group Hezbollah is locked ​in fighting with Israeli ​ground troops, ⁠and Iraq, where Iran-aligned factions have launched drone and rocket attacks.

Syria sent thousands of troops to its western ​border with Lebanon and its eastern border with Iraq ​earlier this ⁠month. Syria’s defense ministry said the deployment was part of efforts to “protect and control the borders amid the escalating regional conflict”.

“We had enough war. ⁠We paid ​a large bill. We are not ready ​for another war experience,” Syria’s president said.