DAMASCUS, March 22 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Friday strongly condemned the recent remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump about Israel's sovereignty over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, according to the state news agency SANA.
Trump's remarks prove the biased stance of the U.S. to the Zionist occupation, said the statement, stressing that the remarks of Trump are irresponsible and will never change the fact that Golan Heights will remain an Arab and Syrian territory.
Trump wrote on a tweet on Thursday that "After 52 years, it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the state of Israel and regional stability!"
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria during the Six-Day War of 1967 and formally annexed the territory in 1981.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry said in the statement that the stance of the U.S. toward the Golan Heights reflects the flagrant violation of the international legitimacy and the UN Security Council Resolution 497 of 1981, which rejects the Israeli occupation in the Golan Heights.
The U.S. reckless policies "which is controlled by the mindset of hegemony and arrogance" have become the primary reason behind straining the situation and threatening international peace and stability, it added.
Recognizing the Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights has been recently a demand by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which comes months after the Trump administration moved the U.S. embassy in Israeli from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
