AMMAN Syrian rebels accused Iran and its Shi’ite-backed militias on Saturday of holding up a deal to evacuate civilians trapped in the remaining rebel bastion in Aleppo.
Munir al Sayal, the head of the political wing of the Ahrar al Sham rebel group involved in negotiations over the deal, said Iran was insisting people be allowed to leave two besieged Shi’ite villages before letting the Aleppo evacuation happen. He said Russia was failing to restrain its ally.
“Iran and its sectarian proxies are using the humanitarian situation of our people in besieged Aleppo and preventing civilians from leaving until the evacuation of their groups in Foua and Kefyra,” Sayal told Reuters.
(Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
