Syrian Diplomat Lauds Aid by Iran, IRGC

TEHRAN– A Syrian deputy foreign minister lauded Iran and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) for assisting his country in the fight against terrorism at the request of the Damascus government, saying it contributed to Syria’s success to protect its sovereignty and national unity.

In an exclusive interview with the Tasnim News Agency in Damascus, Faisal Mekdad said Iran, including a large number of its experts from the IRGC and other forces, rushed to help Syria in the war against Takfiri terrorist groups as soon as the Arab country requested assistance.

Pointing to the US government’s hostile stances against the IRGC, Mekdad said he was not surprised to see Washington raising accusations against the IRGC and pushing to blacklist it, slamming the move as a “Zionist decision”.

Last month, US President Donald Trump announced a new strategy for Iran which he said begins with imposing tough sanctions on the IRGC.

Elsewhere in his comments, the Syrian official pointed to plans to reconstruct the Arab country in the post-Daesh era, saying the doors of Syria will remain open to its allies, Iran and Russia, which assisted in the battle against terrorism without any preconditions.

On November 19, the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group was flushed out of its last stronghold in Syria’s Al-Bukamal. The city’s liberation marked an end to the group’s self-proclaimed caliphate it had declared in 2014.

Daesh militants made swift advances in northern and western Iraq over the summer of 2014, after capturing large areas of Syria.

On Tuesday, Commander of the IRGC Corps Quds Force Major General Qassem Soleimani said the self-proclaimed caliphate of Daesh terrorist group has formally collapsed in Islamic territories after recapture of Al-Bukamal.

Since 2011, when Syria became engulfed with a civil war and the influx of foreign militants, Iran remained a close ally of Damascus and supported its legitimate government against terrorism.

M.Wassouf