Syrian Diplomat Says US-Led Coalition Destroying Oil Wells Deliberately

Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad on Wednesday accused the U.S.-led coalition of deliberately bombing oil wells in Syria in order to force the government to pay millions of dollars to repair them.

“U.S. Coalition bombed oil wells in Syria so that they would not benefit the state and for us to spend millions in repairs,” Mekdad said.

"They made it necessary to spend tens of millions of dollars to resume work at these [oil] fields," he added.

Mekdad also believes that intentions of the U.S. to withdraw troops from Syria and replace them with Arab forces are aimed at bringing the Arab countries in direct conflict with Damascus.

"The main goal of such statements is to pump the money out of the Arab countries. This will force them to pay more to the U.S. treasury, which may be empty. As well as drawing the Arab states in direct conflict, as far as I can guess — with the Syrian government, and this is a dangerous situation," he said, Sputnik News reported.

He also claimed that Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, destroyed relations between Syria and Turkey because he supported terrorist groups against the state.

Despite the hostility between those two countries, Mekdad expressed hope for a resumption of harmonious relations.

Miqdad told Sputnik that the withdrawal of units of the Lebanese movement Hezbollah and Iranian forces from Syria is not on the discussion agenda.

"This topic is not even on the agenda of discussion, since it concerns the sovereignty of Syria. We cannot let anyone even raise this issue. Those who ask for something like that — and this is definitely not our Russian friends — are considering the possibility of intervention in all parts of Syria, including the support of terrorists in Syria and elsewhere in the region," Mekdad said.

Mekdad pointed out that Damascus has time and again heard U.S. statements on termination of its support to the opposition in Syria and yet it continues to fund them.

"Meanwhile, groups are being provided with additional funding and arms," Mekdad said.

"The United States must stop supporting terrorists and respect Syria's sovereignty and choice of the Syrian people," he stressed.

Since 2014, the U.S.-led coalition has been reportedly conducting airstrikes in the Arab republic without the Syrian government's consent or a UN mandate.

President Donald Trump also withdrew the U.S. from the Iran nuclear deal on May 8 and Treasury immediately began to reimpose all sanctions against Tehran.