UAE supports US-led ground operation in Syria

“There is a discussion with regard to a ground force contingent, or a special forces contingent, to operate in Syria by this worldwide U.S.-led coalition against ISIS, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has expressed its readiness to provide special forces to such operations should they occur”, he said, using an acronym for Islamic State.

Spokesman of the Saudi-led operation in Yemen Brigadier General Ahmed Asiri told AFP: “If the coalition desires to launch a ground operation [in Syria], we would contribute positively to it”.

Gen. Asseri did not elaborate on how many troops the kingdom was willing to deploy.

“Should Saudi Arabia come into a direct confrontation with the Syrian army, the oil market will immediately undergo a destabilisation”, Vladimir Dzhabarov, the first deputy chairman of the Russian Federation Council’s International Affairs Committee, said at a press conference.

Following Saudi Arabia’s announcement, Syria’s foreign minister said on Saturday Damascus would resist any ground incursion into its territory and send the aggressors home “in coffins”.

“The kingdom is ready to participate in these efforts because we believe that only air operations will not be the best solution”, Brig.

He also announced Saudi Arabia would hold a large-scale military exercise called “Thunder of the North” with the participation of 21 Arab and Muslim countries. A Saudi-led coalition is battling Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who captured the capital of Sana’a in January 2015. Moreover, Riyadh has largely focused its efforts on its military intervention into Yemen and has not done much to defeat the brutal Sunni group in Iraq and Syria. And if it’s correct then there are less to no chances of it happening at all since President Barack Obama has made it clear – on more than one occasions – that there will be no ground troops or combat mission in Syria.

Mohammad Ali Jafari, a commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, was quoted by the state-controlled Fars news agency as saying he did not think the Saudis were “brave enough” to send ground troops.