"The right to life of the Syrian people is being ruthlessly violated by the US," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on Tuesday in response to Syrian state news agency's report of US looting more of the country's oil, noting that the banditry is seriously exacerbating the energy crisis and humanitarian disaster in Syria.
US occupation forces in Syria continued plundering the country's wealth and resources as they brought out a convoy consisting of 53 tankers on Saturday loaded with oil they looted bound for a US base in northern Iraq via al-Mahmoudiya illegitimate crossing, Syrian Arab News Agency reported.
Wang commented on Tuesday that the US illegal plundering of Syria has become blatantly obvious, quoting official data from the Syrian government that in the first half of 2022, more than 80 percent of Syria's daily oil production was illegally smuggled by US forces.
According to media reports, the US forces and their mercenaries are stealing an average of 66,000 barrels of oil per day in Syria as the country's average daily oil production is estimated to have reached 80,000 barrels in the first half of 2022.
The Syrian oil ministry said in August last year in a statement that the US practices in Syria including its unlawful trafficking of Syrian oil have caused direct and indirect losses of about $107.1 billion to Syria's oil and gas sectors.
Earlier this month, the US forces looted higher quantities of Syrian oil and wheat via 60 tankers, delivering it to their bases in Iraq via illegitimate maritime crossing.
In such miserable situation lacking oil and food, the US robbery could only make this winter even colder for the Syrian people, Wang said.
Greedy as the US is in stealing Syrian resources, it has been pretty "generous" in providing military aid to others, often in the billions or even tens of billions.
Whether the US is to "take" or "give," the results are all the same - to plunge other countries into turmoil and disaster, thereby preserving US interests and hegemony, the spokesperson said. This is the reality of the so-called rule-based order of the US, Wang added.
He urged the US to give the Syrian people and the international community an explanation for the oil theft, and to stop trampling on international suspicions and undermining international law.
The Syrian government has slammed the US' brazen robbery behavior repeatedly over an extended period. However, since the US retained a military presence in northeastern and eastern Syria since 2014, it has been transporting Syrian oil it stole to Iraq where they later sell it to Iraqi oil companies at a lower price and use the money to support the Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and other opposition armed groups in Syria, experts noted.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova earlier said that the treaty provides for various forms of bilateral cooperation.
The comprehensive strategic partnership agreement between Russia and Iran has entered into force, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali told Sputnik.
"It is already binding," Jalali said when asked about the date of entry into force of the agreement, as well as whether Iran had notified Russia of the completion of internal procedures.
He recalled that the treaty was ratified by both chambers of the Russian parliament, and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed it. At the same time, the document was ratified by the Iranian parliament, approved by the Guardian Council, and the president issued it as a law.
"Therefore, in both countries it currently has the form of a law and, naturally, has entered into force," Jalali said.
On January 17, Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, met in Moscow to sign the Comprehensive Strategic ...
Defying the United States threats, ministers from more than 30 nations have packed Bogotá’s San Carlos Palace to charge the Israeli regime with genocide over its October 2023-present brutal military assault against the Gaza Strip.
The dramatic display of international solidarity saw dozens of high-ranking officials from across the globe convene inside the stately palace on Tuesday, determined to hold the regime accountable for, what they unequivocally called, a “war of genocide.”
The two-day emergency summit, organized under the auspices of The Hague Group -- a coalition co-chaired by Colombia and South Africa -- had representatives, ranging from such countries as Algeria and Brazil to Pakistan and Spain, in attendance.
The participants described the drive as a coordinated effort to stop the Israeli atrocities.
Behind closed doors, ministers and envoys, meanwhile, engaged in intensive sessions aimed at drafting collective measures to pressure the regime -- steps expected to be unveiled by ...
