On December 6, the Egyptian Arabi 21 news site carried the following report by its correspondent Yaman Nehme: “Sources close to the Russian Foreign Ministry denied to Arabi 21 the reports surrounding multisided talks being held by the Emirates to distance the Iranian militias from the separation line in the occupied Syrian Golan, thus neutralizing the Syrian front in the war being waged by the Israeli occupation on Gaza. The opposition “Syria TV” had quoted diplomatic sources it did not name as saying that the talks aimed to go back to the clauses of the “settlement agreement” sponsored by Russia in the summer of 2018 between the opposition factions in South Syria and the Syrian regime. The latter agreement stipulates that the Iranian militias be distanced from the Golan border by 85 kilometers, based on the Russian guarantees.

“The sources continued that the Emirates, which was a party in the settlement, was engaged in talks with both the Syrian regime and Russia to reactivate the clause related to distancing the Iranian militias from the Golan Heights to avoid Israel’s reliance on the military option and its incursion in the border region was Syria. This was seen in parallel to the “surprise” visit conducted by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Emirates on Wednesday in the context of an Arab tour that includes the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia... For his part, Rami ash-Shaer, an advisor close to the Russian Foreign Ministry, questioned in exclusive statements to Arabi 21 the accuracy of the reports surrounding multisided talks being held to distance the Iranian militias from the occupied Golan. And he assured that the Emirates would never agree to play that role even if Israel were to ask it to do so.

“He added: “The position of the Emirates is clear about the need for the occupied Golan to go back to Syrian sovereignty, and about restoring the Palestinian rights and establishing the Palestinian state.” Regarding the purpose of Putin's visit to the Emirates, writer and political analyst specializing in Russian affairs Raed Jabr said that the main stop in this visit was Riyadh and that it was linked to more than one bilateral file, including work at OPEC Plus and the Russian view of what is happening in the Middle East, regarding which Putin wanted to coordinate with Saudi Arabia and the Emirates. At this level, he indicated that Putin’s tour came one day before the arrival of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Moscow, thus saying: “Maybe Putin had ideas for the region, which he wanted to discuss with Saudi Arabia and the Emirates before proposing them to the Iranian president.”

“Regarding the Syrian South and distancing the Iranian militias from the Golan, Ayman Abu Noqta, the spokesman for the Horan Free League, excluded any Iranian withdrawal from the area, attributing that in statements to Arabi 21 to the strategic importance of the region in the Iranian calculations. He added that Iran would never abandon its presence in South Syria, seeing as how it gives it an important negotiation card. Moreover, South Syria constitutes a platform to pressure the Arab states, particularly the Arab Gulf states, through the drug smuggling file. According to Syrian sources, the Iranian militias have been increasingly deploying in South Syria since the launching of the Israeli occupation’s aggression on Gaza amid total Russian disregard..., Though this contradicts the clauses of the settlement agreement sponsored by Russia and South Syria...”