Iran: Renaming of al-Nusra Front Sign of Political Bankruptcy of Extremists’ Supporters

TEHRAN-Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi has called the decision of the Nusra Front terrorist group to change its name “a sign of the political bankruptcy of the extremists’ regional supporters headed by Saudi Arabia.”

A recent move by the Nusra Front terrorist group to change its name is a sign of political bankruptcy of the extremists’ regional supporters, Qassemi said, according Tasnim news agency.

On Thursday, a video was aired of Mohammed Jolani, the leader of Nusra Front, outlawed in Russia and numerous other countries, saying the group had split from al-Qaeda and changed its name to Jabhat Fath al Sham, or “The Front for Liberation of al Sham.”

“The objective behind the game is to remove the group from terrorism list, but the ugly image of extremism and terrorism cannot be whitewashed through such moves… Such measures are a sign of the political bankruptcy of the extremists’ regional supporters headed by Saudi Arabia as the father and principal supporter of al-Qaeda, Taliban, Daesh (ISIL or ISIS), al-Nusra Front and many other terrorist groups, particularly in Syria,” Qassemi said on Thursday night, as quoted by the Iranian agency.

The international community should pay attention to the core causes of terrorism and force the founders and supporters of terror groups to uproot extremism, he stressed.

Nusra Front, as well as other extremist groups, has been fighting against the Syrian government since the outbreak of the crisis in the country in 2011.

H.M