Damascus, Syria = Syria said on Friday it was willing to cooperate with the United States to reimplement the 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel, which created a UN-patrolled buffer zone separating the two countries’ forces.
Washington has been driving diplomatic efforts towards a normalisation deal between Syria and Israel, with envoy Thomas Barrack saying last week that peace between the two was now needed.
Speaking to The New York Times, Barrack confirmed this week that Syria and Israel were engaging in “meaningful” US-brokered talks to end their conflict.
Following the toppling of longtime Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel carried out hundreds of strikes on Syria and deployed its troops into the Golan Heights buffer zone, which the UN considered a violation of the agreement.
Israel has also launched hundreds of air strikes on military targets in Syria and carried out incursions deeper into the country’s south.
Syria’s new authorities refrained from responding to the attacks and admitted to holding indirect talks with Israel to reduce tensions.
The two countries have no official diplomatic relations, with Syria not recognising Israel and the two nations technically at war since 1948.
‘Iranian threat’
Israel conquered around two-thirds of the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, before annexing it in 1981 in a move not recognised by any country other than the United States.
A year after the 1973 war, the two reached an agreement on a disengagement line.
As part of the deal, an 80-kilometre-long (50-mile) United Nations-patrolled buffer zone was created to the east of Israeli-occupied territory, separating it from the Syrian-controlled side.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday that his country had an “interest” in normalising ties with Syria and neighbouring Lebanon.
He added, however, that the Golan Heights “will remain part of the State of Israel” under any future peace agreement.
Syrian state media reported on Wednesday that “statements concerning signing a peace agreement with the Israeli occupation at this time are considered premature”.
During the call with Rubio, Shaibani received a formal invitation “to visit Washington as soon as possible”, according to the foreign ministry’s statement.
The two men also discussed Syrian Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s participation in the upcoming United Nations General Assembly, which the UN did not confirm.
Shaibani previously visited the UN headquarters in New York in April, where he raised Syria’s new flag.
He and Rubio talked about “the Iranian threat in Syria”, with Damascus expressing “its growing concern over Iran’s attempts to interfere in Syrian affairs, especially following the strikes that recently targeted Tehran”, referring to last month’s Iran-Israel war.
Tehran used to enjoy significant political and military influence in Syria and provided key support for Assad during the Syrian civil war that erupted in 2011.
