UN Rejects US Move to Recognize Golan Annexation by ‘Israel’

By Staff, Agencies

UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir O. Pedersen underlined Syria’s sovereignty over the ‘Israeli’-occupied Syrian Golan Heights, rejecting a US congressional motion to recognize the Zionist entity’s annexation of the territory.

“Obviously the Security Council is very clear that the Golan is Syrian territory, and the first aspect of [Resolution] 2254 is of course the territorial integrity of Syria,” Pedersen told reporters at a Security Council briefing on Syria held on Thursday in New York.

Pedersen’s comments came in response to a question regarding a bill introduced by Republican members of the US congress which seeks to recognize Syria’s Golan Heights as ‘Israeli’ territory.

The measure, brought by Senators Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton as well as Representative Mike Gallagher, cites concerns about what the lawmakers call a “threat” posed by Iran.

“The United States has been committed for over 40 years to ensuring ‘Israel’s’ security from attacks emanating from across the Golan Heights,” the bill’s sponsors said Wednesday.

‘Israeli’ officials have long pushed for US recognition of the Tel Aviv regime’s sovereignty claims over the territory, which was seized from Syria in 1967.