“Our latest statistics show that the total value of direct and indirect losses to the oil sector in Syria have exceeded 115 billion US dollars. We believe that the United Nations is obligated to hold the United States accountable and ask it to return this looted money to the Syrians,” Bassam stated as he addressed the UN General Assembly.
Bassam’s remarks came when addressing US and Turkish illegal military presence on Syrian soil in violation of its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is also used to support an array of separatist militias and terrorist groups.
The Syrian official also condemned the “infiltration” by several western political and military officials among others, to occupied areas of the country, in disregard to Syria’s sovereignty. – “This is considered a flagrant interference in its internal affairs,” Bassam said.
In addition, Syria called for an independent United Nations investigation into the attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, the offcial emphasized.
When asked whether there should be an independent United Nations investigation on the pipelines sabotage, al-Sabbagh said, "Of course.”
"It goes without saying. There has to be [one]... Usually, when countries request such an investigation, the United Nations should respond to it," Bassam highlighted.
The Nord Stream pipelines, built to deliver gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, were hit by explosions in September 2022. The pipelines’ operator, Nord Stream AG, said that the damage was unprecedented and it was impossible to estimate the timeframe for repairing them.
Denmark, Germany, and Norway have left Russia out of their investigations into the attacks, prompting Moscow to launch its own investigation. Russian officials have characterized the attacks as international terrorism.
No official results of the investigations have yet been announced, but Pulitzer Prize-winning US investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a report in February 2023 saying the explosions were organized by the US government with the support of the authorities in Norway. Washington has denied any involvement in the attack.
In mid-July, media reported that Dutch military intelligence had informed the CIA of Ukraine's plans to sabotage the Nord Stream pipelines - months before the attacks happened.