LONDON: Iran and Russia have sent “positive indications” to the new government in Damascus but there remains an “open wound” over their support for the previous regime, Syria’s foreign minister said on Wednesday.
Moscow and Tehran provided key military and political support to Bashar Assad after an uprising against the former president descended into a 13-year-long civil war.
Assad fled to Russia in December after a lightning offensive led by Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham seized much of the country including the capital.
Asaad Hassan Al-Shaibani was appointed foreign minister by the HTS commander and now president of the Syrian Arab Republic, Ahmad Al-Sharaa.
Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, Al-Shaibani said there had been clear messages of intent from Russia and Iran to respect his new government, and the Syrian people.
But he added: “There is an open wound for the Syrian people and there are a lot of people who have suffered as a result of the relationship between the previous regime and these two states, and as a result, we need to give it some time for the Syrian people to be satisfied.”
Al-Shaibani said the Assad regime had exploited the relationships with Iran and Russia against the Syrian people and that the country needed to “shake off” this previous period.
“Any kind of respect to our freedom and sovereignty will be met with mutual respect and any kind of interference will be rejected.”
The positive indications Syria had received needed to be translated into “real policies based on mutual respect and the need to satisfy the Syrian people.”
Al-Shaibani also addressed Syria’s relations with its neighbor Lebanon — another country with which it has a complicated relationship.
Under the Assad dynasty, Syria imposed its will on Lebanon for decades and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia was another supporter of the former regime during the Syrian war.
“We’re not to be held responsible for the bad relations that existed with Lebanon under the previous regime,” Al-Shaibani said.
Lebanon’s prime minister established a new government on Saturday after two years of political deadlock was broken by the election of President Joseph Aoun last month.
Al-Shaibani said the new Syrian government would respect Lebanon as a sovereign state and avoid interfering in its internal affairs.
“The best proof of that is Lebanon being able to elect its president so swiftly without any interference by Syria,” he said.
Al-Sharaa visited Lebanon last month saying he hoped to build long-term strategic relations between the neighbors.
On another of Syria’s neighbors, Jordan, Al-Shaibani said his government had already removed challenges related to security and drug smuggling.
Jordan supported components of the Syrian opposition during the war and became increasingly concerned about the Assad regime’s mass production and export of the narcotic known as captagon.
Syria, he said, is building new economic partnerships with Jordan along with security cooperation to better control the border.
A new government will take office in Syria on March 1, Al-Shaibani said. The country’s new rulers said last month that they would form an interim legislative council to help govern until a new constitution was approved.
The administration will be “as representative as possible of the Syrian people, and should have the trust of the Syrian people,” the foreign minister said.
During the war, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham was considered an Islamist militant group and designated a terrorist organization by the EU and US.
But since taking power, its former commanders have claimed that they will offer a tolerant form of governance inclusive to all of Syria’s religions.
“Contrary to the previous Syrian regime, we have honored that diversity since day one because we see that as a source of strength,” Al-Shaibani said.
