The foreign ministers of Syria and Iran have said Israel’s aggression on two Syrian sites Sunday aimed at raising the morale of the extremist organizations after their recent defeats on the ground.
Israeli warplanes attacked two areas at al-Dimas and near Damascus International Airport in Damascus countryside on Sunday afternoon, causing material damage to some facilities.
At a press conference in Tehran on Monday, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign and Expatriates Minister Walid al-Muallem and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif stressed that efforts will continue with friendly countries to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria.
Such a solution, both sides confirmed, should be based on dialogue among the Syrians without any foreign intervention.
Muallem 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 to support the Syrian people and consolidate their steadfastness towards reaching victory over terrorism."
He also voiced thanks to Zarif for his invitation to visit the Islamic Republic.
"Those have still not grasped that by conspiring against Syria, they are actually driving terrorism into their very countries," Muallem 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 ground in Deir-ez-Zor, and because of the steadfastness of Syrians in Nubbul, Zahraa, Ayn al-Arab and Aleppo city, and in Qalamoun in Damascus countryside.
The residents of Nubbul and Zahraa, two towns in Aleppo countryside long besieged by the terrorist organizations "have offered a model of patriotic heroism in confronting the terrorism of the Nusra Front," Muallem said.
The minister struck a critical note when he stated that the number of members of the two terrorist organizations from the Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) who were killed in the past two days is "far larger than the number of those killed in the thousand airstrikes carried out by the coalition against ISIS."
Muallem confirmed that "we have no other choice but to triumph over terrorism, and wherefore Syria will remain firm," also 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] raised the morale of the takfiri groups after the defeats which ISIS had in the past weeks by being confronted by the people of Syria and Iraq and to assist these groups with whom the Zionist entity is coordinating," said Zarif.
Regarding cooperation between Iran, Syria, and Iraq in combating terrorism, Muallem voiced gratitude for the Iranian leadership and people for their support to Syria, saying that Syria and Iraq exchanged opinions and that 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 Ibrhaim al-Jaafari, hosted by Zarif, and that it is expected that they will reach an 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 organizations, reiterating Iran’s condemnation of this latest aggression and others like it.
On his message for a conference which will be held on Tuesday to pressure the countries sponsoring terrorism and extremism, Zarif said that the main message will be that religion should be innocent of extremism and that takfiris have no place in Islam; rather these groups are pawns controlled by others, and are bound to backfire on their masters, stressing that terrorism can only be combated comprehensively "on all cultural, political, and economic levels".
"Our friends in the region must realize the reality that the spread of these groups is caused by the financial support they receive, and that there’s no solution other than drying up the sources of terrorism, that the threat of these terrorist groups will backfire on their backers before anyone else," he said.
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, calling for inter-Syrian dialogue away from foreign interference, adding that certain foreign sides continue to work to sabotage efforts to resolve the crisis.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
