Terrorism crossing borders like dangerous virus: Iran SNSC secretary

Shamkhani made the remarks in a meeting with visiting Russian President's Special Envoy Alexander Lavrentiev.

Fighting terrorism needs adopting coordinated and indiscriminate joint approach, Shamkhani said.

He referred to the crimes committed by the terrorists against Syrian people and said that if European countries are concerned about presence of few number of terrorists on their lands, they should also be fearful about the training and arming of thousands of the Takfiri elements by certain regional states and try to stop supporting terrorists.

Shamkhani pointed to cooperation between Iran, Russia, Syria and the resistance against terrorism and said that, “We are committed to finding a political solution to put an end to the Syrian crisis and we believe that military confrontation should be only used against those who reject to give up their arms.”

The official underlined that the Syria talks in Astana had a decisive role in establishing and extending ceasefire in Syria.

He referred to certain states’ influence on the armed groups in Syria and noted that the armed groups should not be allowed to leave the negotiation table.

Shamkhani called for setting up a fact-finding committee to investigate how terrorists in Syria and Iraq managed to access chemical weapons.

“The US illegitimate and unlawful missile attack (against Syria) should be left unpursued,” he added.

The official also said that the armed groups were encouraged to continue with their military approach after the US attack against the Syrian airfield that Washington claimed was carried out in response to the Syrian government’s deployment of chemical weapons against its own people, an allegation strongly denied by Damascus.

The US military intervention in Syria is the repetition of adopting the same wrong and defeated policies by Washington in Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran’s secretary of the Supreme National Security Council said.

Shamkhani said that any military presence in Syria on the pretext of fighting terrorism without making necessary coordination with the country’s legitimate government is a clear example of violating the country’s sovereignty while it is against the international rules and regulations.

During the meeting, The Russian President’s special envoy declared its support for Iran’s constructive role in making peace in Syria.

Lavrentiev said that Moscow is committed to taking military action against terrorists and those who are against finding a political solution to the crisis in Syria.

The Russia official underlined that Moscow, besides trying to find political ways to address the issue, will continue its relentless war against elements of Daesh and al-Nusrah Front and groups affiliated with them.

Shamkhani and Lavrentiev during their talks, also discussed the need for boosting coordination of efforts between Tehran and Moscow both in practice and policy.

9191**2044