A senior Iranian official says strategic cooperation among Iran, Syria, Russia and the resistance front in the fight against terrorism is bearing fruit amid fresh political and military advances by the Syrian government.
“The valuable results of the strategic cooperation among Iran, Syria, Russia and the resistance front in the genuine fight against terrorism are constantly emerging in the political spheres and battlefields,” Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said in a meeting with Russia's special envoy on Syria, Alexander Lavrentiev, in Tehran on Tuesday, Press TV reported.
He hailed the coalition’s great achievements in fighting terrorism and breaking a siege imposed by Daesh Takfiri terrorists on the eastern Syrian city of Dayr al-Zawr and urged all countries to respect Syria’s national sovereignty.
“The commitment of all sides to a Syrian-Syrian solution and observation of the right of the country’s people to determine their own fate without foreign intervention will prepare the ground for accelerating [ways] to reach a result and solve the crisis,” Shamkhani said.
Syrian army forces, backed by allied fighters from popular defense groups, reached Dayr al-Zawr on Tuesday and broke a nearly three-year siege imposed by Daesh terrorists on pro-government areas there.
Syria’s state-run television network reported that army and allied forces had advanced on the Brigade 137 base front on the western outskirts of the city, located 450 km northeast of the capital Damascus on the shores of the Euphrates River.
The move effectively breached the siege that Daesh terrorists had laid since January 2015.
The SNSC secretary further said the Islamic Republic’s priority in the region is to establish stability, security and eradicate terrorism, adding that Tehran would cooperate with various sides based on its goodwill in order to support the demands of the Syrian people and the country’s legitimate government.
He urged all countries to confront the presence, infiltration and the instrumental use of terrorists and to think about the impacts of supporting terrorism on their own states, calling for coordinated, common and non-discriminatory approaches to fight the “dangerous virus of terrorism.”
Russia will continue relentless fight against terrorists
The Russian envoy, for his part, said Tehran, Moscow and Damascus are playing a decisive role in the real campaign against terrorism.
Lavrentiev added that his country still believes in military action against terrorists and will continue its relentless efforts to fight Daesh and the al-Nusra Front terrorists.
The Russian official’s visit to Tehran comes on the threshold of the next round of negotiations between representatives from the Syrian government and foreign-sponsored armed opposition besides delegates from Iran, Russia, and Turkey as mediators on September 14-15 in Kazakhstan’s capital of Astana.
Iran, Russia expanding ties in various fields
Meanwhile, in a meeting with Lavrentiev, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari said Iran and Russia are expanding relations in different fields.
The Russian special envoy on Syria, for his part, said Tehran and Moscow currently have a good level of relations while the two sides’ officials are negotiating to further bolster ties.
He also highlighted the importance of his current visit to Tehran and talks with Iranian officials ahead of Astana talks.
