The United States says it has not ruled out the idea of enforcing no-fly zone over Syria and that all options remain on the table.
White House spokesman Jay Carney made the remarks at a news briefing in Washington on Wednesday.
“Every option available to the president remains on the table when it comes to our policy towards Syria. That of course includes the possibility of a no-fly zone,” Carney said.
On Tuesday, two unidentified Obama administration officials told The Daily Beast that Obama had called on the Pentagon to draw up plans to impose no-fly zones over the country.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters, said the request was made just before US Secretary of State John Kerry started his Middle East tour last week.
The Syria crisis began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.
The Syrian government says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.
Damascus says the West and its regional allies, such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, are supporting the militants.
In an interview recently broadcast on Turkish television, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that if the militants take power in Syria, they could destabilize the entire Middle East region for decades.
Å“If the unrest in Syria leads to the partitioning of the country, or if the terrorist forces take control… the situation will inevitably spill over into neighboring countries and create a domino effect throughout the Middle East and beyond,” he stated.
NT/AS
This article originally appeared on: Press TV