Iran not after overthrowing Saudi regime: SNSC secretary

'Iran, on the other hand, is trying to stop attempts aimed at overthrowing the Saudi government,' Ali Shamkhani told the Tehran Foreign Policy Studies Quarterly in an interview on Monday.

Shamkhani also said that it is up to the Syrian people to decide their destiny.

'Attempts by the United States and some other countries in deciding on behalf of the of the Syrian people, saying who is entitled to run in the next presidential election in the country and who is not, is going to be against democratic principles as well as the right of nations to decide their destiny,' he said.

'Washington alongside with other countries like Saudi Arabia uses safeguarding the rights of the Syrian people as an excuse to in fact eliminate Syria from the axis of resistance,' he said.

But Syria, compared to other Middle Eastern countries which have the backing of the United States, enjoys far better standards.

Shamkhani, commenting on the liberation of Aleppo, a former Daesh stronghold, also said that the liberation of the Syrian city tended to disclose hidden secrets about aids some countries directly provide to the terrorists.

'This is a fact, the supporters of the Takfiri terrorist groups used to deny,' he said.

2044**1771