The Middle East Eye addressed a possible shift in British policy on Syria, after Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond suggested Britain might consider a plan that would allow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to temporarily stay in power. AGSIW Senior Resident Scholar Hussein Ibish told Middle East Eye that U.S. policy is unchanged, noting “This comes at a time when US rhetoric towards the regime is actually getting much tougher as Washington and Tehran re-engage each other on issues beyond the now-finalised nuclear agreement and, it seems, rediscovering the depth of their disagreement on everything else, including Syria.”