SYRIAN Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Mu’allim discussed with Speaker of the Iranian Shura Council Ali Larijani bilateral relations between Syria and Iran and the necessity for continuing support to Syria against the global conspiracy to which it is exposed.
During the meeting, al-Mu’allim briefed Larijani on the Israeli aggression on two safe areas in Damascus countryside which came to raise the morale of the terrorists.
Meanwhile, Al-Mu’allim thanked the Iranian leadership and people for their support to Syria against the global conspiracy. He also briefed Larjiani on his visit to Federal Russia and the talks held there with the Russian friends.
For his part, Larijani affirmed the Iranian continued support to Syria in the face of terrorism, saying ‘the Syrian people’s struggle and resistance have given the others lessons in defence’.
Syrian Ambassador in Tehran Adnan Mahmud attended the meeting. The Foreign Ministers of Syria and Iran said Israel’s aggression on two Syrian sites was aimed at raising the morale of the extremist organisations after the latter’s recent defeats on the ground.
Israeli warplanes attacked two areas in al-Dimas and near Damascus International Airport in Damascus Countryside on Sunday afternoon, causing material damage to some facilities.
At a press conference, Al-Mu’allim and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zari stressed that efforts will continue with the friendly countries to come to finding a political solution to the crisis in Syria.
Such a solution, both sides affirmed, should be based on dialogue among the Syrians without any foreign intervention.
Minister Al-Mu’allim noted that the main goal of his visit to Iran is to offer ‘thanks and gratitude’ to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Hassan Rouhani and above all the friendly Iranian people ‘who have continued supporting the Syrian people and consolidating their steadfastness towards reaching victory over terrorism’.
He also voiced thanks to Minister Zarif for his invitation to visit the Islamic Republic. Al-Mu’allim stressed that Syria is facing a conspiracy ‘whose parties rudely go on with their conspiring being led as sheep by the US and some European states and other known countries in the region such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.’
‘Those have still not grasped that by conspiring against Syria, they are actually driving terrorism into their very countries,’ Al-Mu’allim stated.
‘Whether they know it or not, they stand in one trench along with Israel which raided two Syrian sites yesterday,’ he noted, adding that the aim of the Israeli aggression was to raise the morale of the terrorists after they lost in Dayr-al-Zawr, and because of the steadfastness of the Syrians in Nubbul, Al-Zahraa, Ayn al-Arab and Aleppo city and in al-Qalamoun in Damascus Countryside.
The residents of Nubbul and al-Zahraa, two towns in Aleppo countryside long besieged by the terrorist organisations, ‘have offered a model of patriotic heroism in confronting the terrorism of Jabhat al-Nusrah,’ Al-Mu’allim said.
The heroism of the locals of the two Aleppo towns, he added, has been matched by that of the Armed Forces in the surrounding of Dayr-al-Zawr airport in countering the terrorist organisation ISIS.
The minister struck a critical note when he stated that the number of members of the two terrorist organisations of Jabhat al-Nusra and ISIS who were killed in the past two days is ‘way larger than the number of those killed in the thousand airstrikes carried out by the coalition against ISIS’.
While making this criticism, Al-Mu’allim affirmed that ‘We have no other choice but to triumph over terrorism, and wherefore Syria will remain firm,’ noting that Syria is working with Iran, Russia and others to find ‘a political solution that is based on dialogue among the Syrians without any foreign intervention’.
‘We will go on with this until the aim is reached,’ he said. For his part, the Iranian Foreign Minister expressed his country’s condemnation of the Israeli entity’s aggression against Syria.
‘We believe (the aggression) came to raise the morale of the takfiri groups after the defeats with which ISIS had in the past weeks been confronted by the people of Syria and Iraq and to assist these groups with whom the Zionist entity is coordinating,’ said Zarif.
At the end of the day, he added, what is important is the Syrian people’s resistance and defending of their country, stressing that the people of Syria will continue to have the support of the Iranian people and government.
He pointed out that the people of Syria and Iraq are ‘paying the price’ for the ‘big regional and international crisis facing our region’.
The people of both countries, he clarified, are facing a foreign-backed wave of extremism and terrorism to achieve others’ ‘illegitimate goals’.
While underscoring the success of the Syrian and Iraqi people in confronting the extremist forces, Zarif said Tehran will stick to its stance of supporting the people and government of the two neighbour countries against the danger of terrorism in the region, a stance, he noted, taken by Iran since the very beginning.
The Iranian Minister criticised the double standards and ‘irrational policies’ for being rather helpful for the problem of terrorism and extremism in the region instead of contributing to resolving it.
‘The only practical way to solve the problem of terrorism is not through foreign military measures, but by finding serious and rational means through resisting and facing these groups and trends,’ said Zarif, warning that this problem threatens not just Syria and Iraq but the entire region and the world.
He expressed hope that a political solution will be reached in Syria. ‘We’re glad that the Syrian government see things the same way and that it exerts serious efforts,’ Zarif said, adding that, ‘We hope to reach the sought-for result through helping each another and cooperating with the other countries that seek peace and stability.’
Answering journalists’ questions on the results of his visit to Moscow, Al-Mu’allim said that he and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov agreed to hold talks in Moscow to ensure the success of inter-Syrian dialogue, with Iran supporting this effort.
On cooperation between Iran, Syria, and Iraq in combating terrorism, Al-Mu’allim voiced gratitude for the Iranian leadership and people for their support for Syria, saying that Syria and Iraq exchange opinions and there is ongoing communication, adding that the two countries look forward to full coordination in combating terrorism.
He also noted that he will hold dialogue with Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Ja’ari, hosted by Zarif, and that it is expected that they will reach agreement on taking some sort of action.
For his part, Zarif said the recent Israeli aggression against Syria proves Israel’s involvement with terrorist and extremist organisations, reiterating Iran’s condemnation of this aggression and others like it.
On his message for a conference held on Tuesday 9th December to pressure the countries sponsoring terrorism and extremism, Zarif said that the main message of the conference is that religions are innocent of extremism and that takfiris have no place in Islam; rather these groups are mere pawns controlled by others, and are bound to backfire on their masters, stressing that terrorism can only be combatted comprehensively on all cultural, political, and economic levels.
‘Our friends in the region must realise that the spread of these groups is caused by the financial support they receive, that there’s no solution other than drying up the sources of terrorism, and that the threat of these terrorist groups will backfire on their backers before anyone else,’ he added.
On the steps taken by Syria and Iran to resolve the crisis in Syria, Zarif said that there are ongoing consultations between the two sides to this effect, and that Iran had always said that crises must be resolved using political and peaceful means and called for inter-Syrian dialogue away from foreign interference, adding that certain foreign sides continue to work to sabotage efforts to resolve the crisis.
