Rouhani: Iran-Russia Cooperation on Syria Should Continue

TEHRAN– Iranian President Hassan Rouhani highlighted the strategic relations between Tehran and Moscow and said the two sides should continue their cooperation on Syria until the end of the protracted crisis in the Arab country.

Speaking at a meeting with Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin on the sidelines of a regional conference on counter-terrorism in Tehran on Saturday, Rouhani said over the past years, cooperation between Iran and Russia have been very close and ties in all areas have developed, according to Tasnim News Agency.

He further pointed to “the positive cooperation” between the two countries in all bilateral and regional areas and said the consultations and cooperation on Syria should continue until the desired result would be reached.

 Volodin, for his part, highlighted the importance of his country’s relations with Iran and said fortunately, Tehran-Moscow ties have developed rapidly over the past years due to the efforts of the two countries’ presidents.

Iran and Russia have formed a strong alliance in recent years, with both supporting Syrian legitimate government against foreign-backed terrorism.

Rouhani Urges Unwavering, All-out Battle against Terrorism

In another meeting with Pakistani Speaker of the National Assembly Asad Qaiser, Rouhani called on all neighboring and regional countries to step up an all-out fight against terrorism and extremism, saying major powers have created and supported terrorist groups, Press TV reported.

He said the conference was a “good and useful initiative” to improve security in the region and cooperation among regional countries, adding, “Those who have created terrorist groups in the past decades, had in fact committed high treason against regional nations.”

“The US, the West and the Zionist regime (Israel) are supporters of terrorist groups’ activities in Iran,” Rouhani pointed out.

He emphasized that Tehran and Islamabad must take serious steps to battle terrorism and stressed the importance of resisting US bullying and finding appropriate ways to expand relations among friendly countries.

Iran Urges Regional Unity against US

Addressing the 2nd conference of Parliament Speakers of Iran, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey, held in Tehran on Saturday,  Rouhani said the US is mistaken to think that it can break regional countries apart, calling for collective efforts to prepare for a post-American world in which the US will not have the power to dominate others.

He stressed the need for joint efforts to counter the US policies and create a more powerful region.

The Iranian president said that the “world today is dealing with complicated challenges, including weather changes, economic crises, underdevelopment, aggression and war, poverty and famine, unilateralism, extremism, and terrorism.”

He added that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been facing terrorism since its establishment. And today, the cruel, illegal economic sanctions imposed by the United States against the people of Iran is a clear example of terrorism. He made it clear that economic terrorism means promoting terror about the economy of a country and intimidating other countries to prevent them from doing trade and invest in the target country.

Need to dry out roots of violence

“Our region is at a critical juncture in history today. The juncture at which global terrorists, extremists and lawbreakers are seeking to start a whirlpool made of terrorism, poverty, sanction, crisis, assassination and coup. They do not want us to gather, talk, sit together and be sympathetic and empathetic; but they need to know that we are determine to join hands in overcoming this common enemy; but what this victory requires is that we should all have a responsibility in drying out the roots of violence. Our success requires continuous and tireless resolve in finding the roots of degeneration and collective effort for drying out these roots. Poverty, corruption and inequality are among the most important root causes of terrorist violence in this region,” said Rouhani, according to Tasnim.

“It is in an underdeveloped atmosphere where different kinds of crime, smuggling, money laundering and terrorism joint together and destroy human security in societies. The voice of the peoples of the region is being heard clearly, who say, “War and bloodshed is enough; displacement, poverty, famine, putting up walls, killing neighbors, hatred and grudge, backwardness and discrimination, boycott and humiliation are enough. Women and girls have had enough of slavery and deprivation of education and employment. Children are sick and tired of being displaced and not having something to wear; cities and villages do not want to tolerate explosion and fire and destruction anymore”, He added.

Rouhani went on to say that political and military interference do not let societies follow their natural growth process and find their own solutions to confronting discords and problems. Those who interfere, sow the seeds of discord and hatred to harvest rancor and violence. We need to think about how we can stop those who are willingly spending billions of dollars of oil incomes for deepening discords and proliferating intolerance; we need to stand up to those who interfere and bully to leave terror and assassination unsupported.

He pointed out that “today, it is coordination and cooperation that create security. To confront the common threats that do not recognize any boundary and territory, we need to take a new approach towards boundary and territory. We need to have more flexible governances that are more compatible with fair division of labor against our common threats.”

He clarified that “if we want to put an end to the flow of refugees, we need to harness violence and war. If we wish to defeat terrorism, we need to fight dirty money, and to wage such a war, we need to support each other’s effectiveness of governance until a point that no room is left for evil.”

H.M