As Russia, Iran, Arab States Aid Quake-Hit Syria, U.S. Vows No Assad Talks

As friends and foes of the United States pledged humanitarian efforts to help Damascus contend with a devastating earthquake that rocked Syria and neighboring Turkey, the U.S. has asserted that it would not engage with the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Speaking at a press briefing Monday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters that “the U.S. is a partner to the people of Syria” and has “provided more humanitarian assistance to the people of Syria than any other country going forward.”

However, he said that “it would be quite ironic—if not even counterproductive—for us to reach out to a government that has brutalized its people over the course of a dozen years now—gassing them, slaughtering them, being responsible for much of the suffering that they have endured.”

“Instead,” Price added, “we have humanitarian partners on the ground who can provide the type of assistance in the aftermath of these tragic earthquakes.”

Washington cut ties with Damascus as its crackdown on protests in 2011 first devolved into a civil war that remains ongoing to this day. The Syrian government, led by Assad, has managed to retake much of the country from jihadis and rebels, including insurgents backed by the U.S. in earlier years of the conflict, but Washington has accused Assad of conducting war crimes, a charge he and his administration have denied, and has employed sanctions against the Syrian government.

The U.S. has instead worked with a Kurdish-led group known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, which lead an autonomous government in northeastern Syria, where U.S. troops continue to operate against Damascus’ wishes.

In a statement issued Monday, the Syrian Democratic Forces said its personnel “stand ready to provide immediate assistance to overcome the earthquake aftermath in all Syrian territories, including providing relief support and sending rescue teams to the disaster-stricken areas.”

Syrians on Monday gather near a poster of President Bashar al-Assad hanging outside the emergency section of a hospital in Hama following a deadly earthquake. The Syrian government urged the international community to come to its aid after several hundred people died in the country after the 7.8-magnitude temblor in neighboring Turkey. LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/Getty Images

Destruction caused by Monday’s earthquake, which originated in central Turkey, occurred in areas under the control of various factions. More than 700 people have been reported dead in government-held areas and around the same figure estimated in rebel-held areas near the Turkish border in the northwest, where millions of displaced people continue to live in dire conditions, including makeshift camps and residences.

As Assad convened emergency meetings in an effort to mobilize available resources to respond to the disaster, the Syrian Foreign Ministry issued a statement appealing “to the member states of the United Nations, the General Secretariat of the Organization, its agencies and specialized funds, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian action partners from international governmental and non-governmental organizations to extend a helping hand and support the efforts made by the Syrian government in facing this humanitarian disaster.”

In a briefing to the U.N. General Assembly delivered Monday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said the U.N. was “mobilizing to support the emergency response” in Syria and Turkey, and called on all member states to “work together in solidarity to assist all those hit by this disaster, many of whom were already in dire need of humanitarian aid.”

Among the initial responses came from Damascus’ close partners, Moscow and Tehran, which have militarily backed the Syrian government in its conflict. Russia has deployed troops already stationed in the country as well as teams of rescue and medical personnel to help in recovery efforts, while Iran has also sent emergency aid.

Fellow Arab states have also responded, with the North African states of Algeria, Egypt and Tunisia sending assistance as well as neighboring Iraq and Jordan and the Arabian Peninsula nations of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, two nations with close ties to the U.S., also sending aid.

President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain, two leaders who have set out reestablish ties with Damascus, spoke directly to Assad via telephone calls, expressing condolences and vowing efforts to help his government overcome the fallout of the earthquake.

A truck adorned with Iran’s flag and a photo of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force commander Major General Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. strike in Iraq in January 2020, takes part in the search operations following a deadly earthquake on Monday, in the city of Aleppo, Syria. LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/Getty Images

While Assad has made several visits to Russia and Iran since the outbreak of his country’s conflict, the Syrian leader’s trip to the UAE in March marked his first to a third foreign country in 12 years. Syria remains suspended from the Arab League, however, which required an elusive consensus to unfreeze its membership that has yet to be reached despite increasing attempts from regional countries.

Despite being in a state of war with Syria, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that his government had received a request for aid from Damascus and that Israeli rescue teams would operate in Syria as well as Turkey. Assad’s administration has offered no confirmation of the request.

Other commitments to send aid to Syria came from as far away as China, India and Venezuela, while Western countries without relations with Damascus remained mostly silent as to potential efforts to assist the Syrian government, instead focusing on supporting Turkey, a member of the NATO military alliance, where the death toll has neared 3,000.

The World Health Organization has said that the current death toll of those killed in both Syria and Turkey could ultimately multiply by eight as efforts continue to account for the full scale of destruction wrought by what has already become one of the deadliest earthquakes of the 21st century.

Newsweek has reached out to the U.S. State Department for comment.