Iran Calls on Militants’ Backers to Give Up ’Syria-without-Assad’ Condition

(FNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called on supporters of terrorist groups in Syria to stop their attempts to overthrow the Arab country's legal president, and expressed regret that their stubborn insistence on toppling President Assad has blocked peace and tranquility in the country.

"Those who have set a condition about the Syrian president in the past two years should be blamed for the continued war and they should account for the bloodshed in the past few years," Zarif said in a joint press conference with his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo in Tehran on Monday.

Stressing that merely the Syrian people are entitled to make a decision about their country's president, he called on the backers of the terrorist groups to give up their selfish moves and short-term benefits that they pursue at the expense of the Syrian people, and let the restoration of peace and reconciliation happen in Syria.

"We insist everyone to try the political solution to end the crisis in Syria and give up their dream of bringing about an end to the situation in Syria through military means," Zarif said.

In relevant remarks on Sunday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in a meeting with new Iraqi Ambassador to Tehran Rajih al-Mussawi underlined the need for putting an end to foreign interference and terrorism in the region.

"Without doubt, establishment of peace and tranquility in Iraq is equal to the establishment of security and serenity in Iran,'" President Rouhani said, underlining the need for uprooting terrorism and presence of foreign troops in the region.

Also on Wednesday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani described terrorism and extremism as the most dangerous threats posed to the entire world, and called for collective efforts by all countries to uproot terrorist groups in the region.

Speaking in a meeting with French Parliament Vice-Speaker Laurence Dumont on the sidelines of the 4th World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments in New York, sponsored by the Geneva-based Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Larijani underlined that fighting terrorism is important for both Iran and France because terrorism will not be limited to the Middle East and it is a global threat.