„Diplomacy has meanwhile made little progress with no compromise over the future of President Bashar al-Assad, his position strengthened by Iranian and Russian military support. A top Iranian official, in comments to Iran TV, rejected what he described as a U.S. request for Tehran’s help to make Assad leave power, saying he should serve out his term and be allowed to run in a presidential election ‚as any Syrian.‘
Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halaki told a delegation of visiting Russian lawmakers of preparations to ‚liberate‘ Aleppo, Syria’s biggest city and commercial hub before the conflict that erupted in 2011. Aleppo is divided into areas controlled separately by the government and opposition. ‚We, together with our Russian partners, are preparing for an operation to liberate Aleppo and to block all illegal armed groups which have not joined or have broken the cease-fire deal,‘ he was quoted as saying by TASS news agency. Dmitry Sablin, a member of Russia’s upper house of parliament and a member of the delegation, told RIA news agency ‚Russian aviation will help the Syrian army’s ground offensive operation.‘“ (Bericht auf der türkischen Nachrichtenseite Hürriyet Daily News: „Syrian regime, backed by Russia, set for new Aleppo attack“)
