Mattis: the impact of the coalition in Syria fell on forces under the command of Iran
WASHINGTON, may 19 — RIA Novosti. Pentagon chief James Mattis said that the impact of the coalition in Syria on Thursday fell to forces under the command of Iran.
Mattis also reiterated at a press conference that the Pentagon suggests that Russia tried to prevent the incident.
“It was a defensive action by our forces, which become necessary after an offensive maneuver with the use of offensive weapons by the forces, which, we believe, are commanded by Iran. I don’t know if the Iranians themselves. It was forces under the command of the Iranians inside the established agreed upon areas to avoid conflict. We believe that they have progressed in this area against the advice of Russian. I also can not confirm, but seems like the Russians tried to convince them,” said Mattis.
Earlier in the press conference, the Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the armed forces of the United States Joseph Dunford said that he had discussed the impact of the coalition in Syria with the Russian side and assured that the strikes of this kind will not repeat itself if there is no threat to American forces.
On Thursday, the Pentagon announced that the coalition headed by the USA attacked a Syrian Pro-government forces near Al-TANF. The Russian foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the strike “illegal and illegitimate”.