Small Wars Journal

Tehran Summit Expected to Seal Fate of Syria's Idlib

Wed, 09/05/2018 - 12:04am

Tehran Summit Expected to Seal Fate of Syria's Idlib – Agence France-Presse

Tehran (AFP) - The presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey meet Friday in Tehran for a summit expected to shape the future of Idlib province, home to Syria's last major rebel bastion.

The summit comes as Syrian forces look poised to launch a major assault that is raising fears of a humanitarian catastrophe on a scale not yet seen in the seven-year-old conflict.

Damascus and its main backer Moscow have vowed to root out the jihadist groups that dominate Idlib province, but the outcome of Friday's meeting could determine the scope and the timing of an offensive.

"We know that the Syrian armed forces are getting ready to solve this problem," President Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

Seized from government forces in 2015, Idlib and adjacent areas form the last major chunk of Syrian territory still in rebel hands…

Read on.