Syria, Russia, Iran to Continue Joint Action to Clean Entire Syrian Territory from Terrorism

MOSCOW, (ST)- The foreign ministers of Syria, Russia and Iran have stressed that the American aggression on Syria is a flagrant violation of the International Law and the UN Charter, urging independent and transparent investigation into the alleged use of chemical weapon in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idleb countryside.

In a joint press conference on Friday with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and the Iranian Foreign Minister Javad  Zarif, Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem stressed that the tripartite meeting was a strong message to the world following the US aggression on Syria.

 Al-Moallem said that yesterday he discussed with Lavrov different aspects of action to enhance the effectiveness of struggle against terrorism in addition to consolidating the support provided by the Russian Federation to the Syrian Arab Republic in different domains. He added that today he had talks with Iran’s Zarif also over the Tehran’s support for Syria in the face of the terrorist war imposed on the country.

 “I assure you that we will continue working as to clean the entire Syrian land from terrorism,” al-Moallem said.

Lavrov: US Aggression Violates International Legitimacy

On his part, Lavrov said the Russian-Syrian-Iranian talks focused on the situation in Syria following the US missile attack on a Syrian airfield in Homs on April 7. “We stressed that the US aggression was a violation of international legitimacy,” Lavrov added.

“Such aggressive actions are obviously aimed at undermining the process of political solution, which was unanimously approved by a resolution of the UN Security Council and stipulates that only the people of Syria will be determining the future of their country,” Lavrov said.

US Should Respect Syria’s Independence

“We insist that the United States and its allies should respect Syria’s independence and must not commit any acts that may threaten regional and international security and violate the principles of international legitimacy like what happened in Libya and some other countries,” the Russian top diplomat went on to say.

“We urge accurate, honest and balanced investigation sponsored by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons into the alleged chemical incident,” Lavrov said, pointing out that the call is expected to face resistance by some western parties.

The Russian minister affirmed that Moscow will go ahead with all required support Syria may need in its efforts to restore security.

“We will go ahead with all required support for the government of Syria in restoring peace, the economy and civilian infrastructures and for addressing other humanitarian problems of the affected Syrian population,” Lavrov said.

He added that during their trilateral consultations the foreign ministers paid special attention to the need for building up joint work to wipe out the hotbed of terrorism in the territory of Syria and urged creating wide anti-terrorist front.

Zarif: Unilateral actions unacceptable

Iran’s Zarif asserted that the unilateral actions carried out by some parties (in reference to Washington) are unacceptable for the international community, because they violate countries’ sovereignty and independence, noting that the international community is suffering now the results of unilateral actions.

He said Iran will cooperate with different parties at the international level as to prevent the use of chemical weapon, reiterating the importance of revealing who used chemical weapon in Syrian through conducting detailed independent investigation.

 Tehran also encourages international cooperation in the fight against terrorism and extremism, said Zarif, adding that Iran expect other parties of the international community to cooperate in this respect, particularly in the light of the terrorist attacks that hit different places in the world including Germany and Russia.

According to Zarif, Iran urges huge efforts to stop the ongoing war in Syria which deprived the Syrian people from determining the future of their country.

Hamda Mustafa