Rouhani: Terrorists mustn’t feel safe...
Iran’s president said Washington’s relocating of Daesh terrorists to Afghanistan “can pose threats to the entire Central Asian region and other parts of the world,” adding, “One must not claim to be fighting terrorism, but help them behind the scenes.”
Still addressing the declared plan of the US withdrawal from Syria, Rouhani said “based on our intelligence we know that they will continue to meddle in Syria.”
Rouhani once again touched on the issue of Israel’s acts of aggression against the Syrian territory, criticizing the UN and other global bodies for their silence on the incursions.
“Israelis bomb anywhere in the region and fly over the Lebanese and Syrian soil whenever they wish, and unfortunately, the United Nations and global authorities are silent about these continued acts of aggression in Syria,” Iran’s president said, adding, “This silence means that they do not want full security in the region and Syria.”
“In this summit, we stressed the importance of combating terrorism in the remaining areas, including Idlib, and it was completely agreed by all that reducing tensions and the presence of guarantors in this region is temporary,” he concluded.
No signs US withdrawal
Putin, for his part, told the press conference that there has been no objective evidence to prove that the US pullout is actually happening.
According to Reuters, he said US President Donald Trump was trying to fulfill his election campaign promises by ordering Syria troop withdrawal, but that he was not always able to live up to his promises, because of “internal political issues.”
The Russian head of state noted that such withdrawal would lead to stability and the restoration of Syria’s authority over its territories.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Putin stressed that aggressive measures taken by militants in Idlib would not go unpunished. Putin added that a deescalation zone planned for Idlib was only a temporary measure and was not meant to substitute the process of combating terrorism.
The Russian president also stated that although the guarantors had agreed to take extra steps to clear Idlib of terrorists, there would be no military operations there.
At the end of the Sochi meeting on Syria, presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey issued a joint statement, stressing strong commitment to sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria.
The three presidents highlighted that these principles should be universally respected and that no actions, no matter by whom they were undertaken, should undermine them.
They also rejected all attempts to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of combating terrorism and expressed their determination to stand against any effort aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as well as the national security of neighboring countries.
They added that the US decision for the withdrawal of its forces from Syria, if implemented, would help strengthen stability and security in the country in compliance with the above-mentioned principles. The presidents of Iran, Syria and Russia also denounced and expressed serious concern about the efforts by Hayat Tahrir alsham terrorists to increase their control over the Idlib de-escalation area, and agreed to effectively counter such attempts.