Foreign Ministers of Syria, Iraq and Iran hold joint press conference on the situation in Syria

Following their bilateral and tripartite meetings on Friday in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the foreign ministers of Syria Bassam Sabbagh, Iraq Fuad Hussein and Iran Abbas Araqchi held joint press conference on the situation in Syria.

The Iraqi Foreign Minister said “We held bilateral and tripartite meetings and discussed the current situation in Syria in details and its consequences on neighboring countries, especially on Iraq.

He added “Syria’s security is linked to the security of the region, and we in Iraq condemn the terrorist attacks in Syria by organizations that have been internationally classified as terrorist”.

Hussein affirmed that the Iraqi position is clear and it stresses that the security of Syria and Iraq is linked to each other and to the security of the surrounding countries.

The Iraqi minister also said “we confim our support for the Syrian people by sending humanitarian aid, and Baghdad will take the initiative to hold a meeting of a number of countries to discuss the Syrian issue”, calling for an urgent meeting of Arab foreign ministers, and stressing that Iraq will use all diplomatic means to reach a truce.

Syria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Bassam Sabbagh said that he held meetings with the Iraqi leadership and with the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi regarding the current developments5 in Syria in the light of the terrorist attack by Al-Nusra Front terrorist organization and some affiliated terror groups.

He added that he explained developments in the buttlefield, security threats and humanitarian conditions resulting from the terrorist attack that caused a large wave of displacement.

Sabbagh pointed out that the Syrian Armed forces are doing their national duty in confronting the terrorist attack.

He explained that the parties behind the terrorist attack are clearly violating the UN resolutions related to combating terrorism and the agreements reached within Astana process.

Sabbagh pointed out that foreign intervention has been exposed and it aims at achieving historical greedy aspirations and new division of the region and at redrawing the region’s political map.

Sabbagh asserted the importance of mobilizing all Arab, regional and international efforts to support the efforts of the Syrian state in confronting terrorism and combating all its forms and to condem the terrorist attacks carried out by the terrorist organization of “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham” in addition to supporting Syria’s efforts to preserve its sovereignty, the security of its citizens and the unity of its territories.

He noted the broad solidarity and support for the Syrian government and for the sovereignty and unity of the Syrian territory, indicating that there was an emphasis on the need not to accept double standards in dealing with terrorism.

For his part, Araqchi said points of view were identical on the danger of the terrorist threat in Syria.

“The message of today’s tripartite meeting is to support Syria, government and people, in combating the Takfiri terrorist groups that are carrying out attacks as part of an American-Zionist conspiracy”, Araqchi clarified.

He pointed out that “the Syrian government, people and army are confronting terrorism and we support them in thus battle”.

He steessed that the terrorist attacks in Syria also threaten neighboring countries,as “terrorism knows no borders, so terrorists must be fought in their hotbeds, otherwise they will spread to all regions”.

Araqchi went on to say that there should be no discrimination in the issue of fighting terrorism. “Al-Nusra Front is an internationally classified terrorist organization, and therefore there is an international duty to fight terrorism in Syria,” he affirmed.

The Iranian minister reiterated that  Iraq, Iran and Syria must join forces against terrorism, and “the international community must support us in this”.

He asserted Iran’s support for all the diplomatic efforts to achieve security and stability in the region.

Hamda Mustafa