By Ramin Hossein Abadian
The U.S. government's moves to seize Syria's oil and gas resources and deprive Damascus of its revenues have increased as Syrians have confronted U.S. troops.
American moves in Syria has recently intensified, and Washington appears to be pursuing its dreams, especially in terms of seizing Syria's resources and wealth. Recent remarks by the U.S. president on the sending new troops to Syria to protect the oil fields in the outskirts of Deir ez-Zor indicate Washington’s intention for stealing the country’s oil. U.S. troops began building a new military base in Al-Hasakah Governorate earlier this month to prevent Russian forces from reaching the Rmelan oil field.
The Syrian oil and gas resources and Trump's greed
During a news conference, U.S. President Donald Trump recently rervealed his intention to plunder Syrian oil and gas resources, specifically those that are located east of Deir ez-Zor, and said, “What I intend to do, perhaps, is make a deal with an ExxonMobil or one of our great companies to go in there and do it properly...and spread out the wealth”.
Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper made a ridiculous claim without mentioning U.S. obvious role in the creation of the Takfiri terrorist group and ISIS, saying “Our mission in Syria today remains the same as when we began operations in 2014: to enable the enduring defeat of ISIS” he added, “We are now taking some actions … to strengthen our position at Deir ez-Zor to ensure that we can deny the -- deny ISIS access to the oil fields”
Esper threatened Syrian and Russian forces that would face a "decisive" response by the U.S. if they approached the oil fields.
The remarks by U.S. officials indicate that Washington has taken steps this time on the pretext of preventing ISIS control over Syria's oil fields and will remain in Syria to seize them.
Russian reaction to U.S. movement
“Since the beginning of 2020, 13 military convoys have arrived from Iraq to Syria, which included over 80 armored vehicles and more than 300 trucks loaded with various types of weapons, ammunition, and materiel", Rear Adm. Oleg Zhuravlev said in a daily briefing, according to Sputnik News Agency.
At the same time, Sputnik also reported that despite U.S. claims over the gradual withdrawal of its troops from Syria, the country had recently sent a convoy of armored vehicles from Iraq to the oil-rich Al-Hasakah province in northeastern Syria. The news source quoted some posts on Facebook as saying that at least 55 armored vehicles, tanks, and engineering equipment had left Iraq for al-Hasakah province.
Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu slammed the US for occupying Syrian oilfields, calling it a major obstacle to the reconstruction of the country after the conflict. The Russian defense minister said, “The oil fields… are controlled by the US. There is shameless, impudent pillage of the wealth that belongs to Syria and the Syrian people taking place”.
Bashar Jaafari Syrian Permanent Representative to the UN, said earlier that the U.S. has occupied Syria’s oil wells and is looting oil renews in the shadow of the Security Council's silence.
Brokers who buy land for Americans to build a military base
Al-Akhbar newspaper wrote U.S. moves aim at seizing oil wells in Syria and daily transfers between Al-Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor, as well as the transfer of equipment from Iraq to Syria, are carrying for this purpose. According to information that Al-Akhbar has received, Washington is buying land in Tell Brak in northeastern Syria through local brokers to build a military base. The brokers are taking steps in favor of the U.S. and find land in the towns of Tel Hamees and Al-Hawl to Americans can build their military base there.
The Lebanese source stated that the U.S. is trying to gain lands in Tell Brak, Tel Hamees and Al-Hawl because of the connection of these areas to Ash Shaddadi and the northeastern outskirts of Deir ez-Zor. The sources related to Syrian opposition said that Saudi-American talks is carrying out in Al-Hasakah with the aim of financial support by Riyadh for Washington-backed groups.
Saudi Arabia has agreed with backing Al-Sanadid Forces and armed group led by former President of the Syrian National Coalition Ahmad Jarba. The American security company will also take charge of training the two groups and encourages Arab youth to join them.
It is obvious that Washington is seeking to steal Syrian oil. Due to the blows dealt by terrorist groups to the Syrian infrastructure, Damascus is in severe need of oil revenues to reconstruct and develop the country. The Americans, who are well aware of this issue, are attempting to prevent Syria from achieving this revenue and occupy its oil fields. In fact, ISIS had previously occupied oil fields and now Washington is stealing Syrian oil. On the other hand, the U.S. describes the protection of Syrian oil fields from ISIS as a reason for its military presence, while the Syrian army is able to protect its oil and gas resources.
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