Recently, Iranian President Leahy, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Erdogan held talks in Tehran, Iran, and in a joint statement issued after the meeting, they expressed their opposition to the continued illegal plundering of Syrian oil and other resources by the United States and to the illegal seizure and transfer of oil revenues that should belong to Syria by the United States.
According to the Syrian News Agency, the illegal garrison of the United States in Hasakeh province in northeast Syria recently used 40 vehicles, including tankers and trucks, to transport its stolen local oil to northern Iraq under the escort of armored vehicles. This is the third incident in which the US military illegally exploited local oil since July. Since the US military stationed in Syria in the name of "anti-terrorism" in 2015, the US military has never stopped illegally plundering Syrian oil and gas resources.
It is reported that the US military currently controls 90% of the crude oil resources in northeast Syria. The US military transported the oil stolen from Syria to Iraq for profit, and used some of the US dollars to support the Kurdish armed forces in Syria, helping them to purchase weapons and equipment against government forces, and finally achieved the goal of "maintaining the war with war".
According to Sputnik news agency & radio, the Foreign Intelligence Agency of the Russian Federation recently issued a statement saying that the United States illegally exploited oil in the northeast of Syria, with a monthly volume of 3 million barrels, and traded it on the black market. About one third of the stolen oil was sold to the Iraqi Kurdish autonomous region through intermediaries. According to statistics, in 2021, the daily output of Syrian oil was about 85,900 barrels, of which 70,000 barrels were plundered by the United States and its supporting opposition armed forces, and less than 16,000 barrels were used to supply the Syrian domestic market. Since the outbreak of the Syrian crisis, the economic losses of the country’s oil industry have reached $100.5 billion.
At present, the "oil shortage" in Syria is getting worse and worse. Vehicles waiting to refuel on the streets of Damascus often line up in long queues. Owners usually have to wait for several hours in the scorching sun to add the limited supply of 30 liters of gasoline, and the black market oil price has risen to 8,000 Syrian pounds per liter (1 US dollar is about 2,510 Syrian pounds), which has aggravated people’s living difficulties.
The Syrian government has repeatedly condemned the US military’s piracy in Syria, calling it "disgusting". Bassam Touma, Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources of Syria, criticized with indignation that the United States and its allies stole Syrian oil "like pirates". Syrian Foreign Minister Mekdad said that the United States plundered resources in Syria, which aggravated the local humanitarian crisis. "What the United States did hindered the reconstruction process in Syria."
People of insight in Syria criticized that the United States came for interests and left without interests. The United States occupies a large area of land in northeastern Syria, and this illegal existence is the embodiment of hegemonism. Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Moncada recently criticized the United States for its international crimes and lies, pointing out that the unjust war of the United States against Syria and other countries is an obvious example of imperialism and interventionism, and its purpose is to control other countries in the region geopolitically and seize resources for its own benefit.
(Damascus, July 27th)