Iran committed to fighting terrorism: Deputy FM
A senior Iranian official says the Islamic Republic is committed to fighting terrorism within the framework of international regulations.
"For fighting terrorism, the Islamic Republic of Iran will not wait for any international coalition and it will act based on its international responsibility and within the framework of international regulations," Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told the visiting head of French parliament's defense and armed forces committee, Patricia Adam, on Sunday
The Iranian diplomat added that the “wrong and selective approach [adopted by] the West and the US” vis-à-vis such terrorist groups as the Takfiri ISIL group in Syria and Iraq has made the terrorists stronger to the extent that they threaten stability and security in the Middle East region.
Amir-Abdollahian said Iran believes that supporting the Iraqi and Syrian governments is the "best" way to fight ISIL terrorists operating in the region.
The French parliamentarian, for her part, said her country supports fighting terrorism within UN framework.
Earlier in the day, Amir-Abdollahian said that Iran has no interest in attending next week's international meeting in France on battling the Takfiri ISIL group operating in Iraq and Syria.
He said that the conference has a selective guest list and is just for show.
“Presence in a symbolic and selective meeting on fight against terrorism in Paris is not on our agenda,” Amir-Abdollahian added.
France is scheduled to host a conference on Monday to discuss ways to tackle the ISIL terrorists in Iraq and Syria.
The Paris meeting would come as the US is forming a so-called international coalition to battle the Takfiri ISIL militants.
On Friday, US President Barack Obama said that the United States is assembling an international coalition with the goal to “snuff out” the ISIL terrorist group, adding that such extremist groups have “no place in the 21st century.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham on Thursday questioned the sincerity of the coalition.
The ISIL terrorists control large parts of Syria’s east and north. ISIL also sent its Takfiri militants into Iraq in June, seizing large