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We Want Full Iranian Withdrawal from Syria
(Asharq Al-Awsat-UK) James Jeffrey interviewed by Ibrahim Hamidi - James Jeffrey, the U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement and the Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, said that his country wanted a full Iranian withdrawal from Syria and would not allow Iran to "fill the void" in the northeast of the country. Jeffrey told Asharq Al-Awsat that Washington would continue to pressure Damascus and its allies through economic sanctions, a military presence in northeastern Syria, and a halt to Arab and Western normalization until a "new political government is formed." Jeffrey said the Syrian regime's access to reconstruction funds has stopped, and that his country was obstructing the recognition of the regime in the Arab League and was working on a coordinated sanctions program with the Europeans. Jeffrey emphasized that U.S. policy was aimed at facing Iran in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Hizbullah, and Yemen. "This is no secret. We look at all these areas as one theater of [Iranian] operations."