Trump’s “Safe Zones” Remark Raises Questions in Tehran

By Ahmad Majidyar | Fellow and Director of IranObserved Project - The Middle East Institute | Jan 30, 2017
Trump’s “Safe Zones” Remark Raises Questions in Tehran

President Donald Trump’s Wednesday remark that he "will absolutely do safe zones in Syria" has raised questions in Tehran. Tabnak News, an outlet run by former Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Mohsen Rezaei, analyzed in details the feasibility and implications of such a plan. It said that Trump had “rung the alarm bell across the world” by “taking controversial decisions at the beginning of his work.” The article reasoned that establishing a safe zone in Syria would be a very difficult task for the new US administration for many reasons.

Quoting Russian officials, Tabnak said Washington had not consulted with Moscow regarding the plan. It also referred to former US Secretary of State John Kerry’s remark that the enforcement of a safe zone would require the United States to deploy between 15,000 and 30,000 to the region. Furthermore, the article explained that divergent interests of regional countries would also make the execution of the plan risky and difficult. It said that while Turkey is the strongest advocate for a safe zone in Syria, the Turkish government considers the Syrian Kurds terrorists; Saudi and the United Arab Emirates support a safe zone but are occupied with the Yemeni war and lack the financial resources to participate in the Syrian safe zone plan. The conservative outlet claimed that establishing a safe zone in Syria would only benefit “terrorists.”