Iran Urges Revision of Attitudes towards Middle East Upheavals
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called on certain countries both inside and outside the “strategic” Middle East to change their attitudes towards the developments across the region, as what is going on in Iraq and Syria.
Zarif described as “far from realistic” the attitudes taken by certain regional and trans-regional states towards Middle East, urging them to revise their positions and take account of the nations’ will and demands.
He made the comments in a meeting with his Norwegian counterpart Borge Brende in New York on Friday.
The Iranian minister also raised the alarm over the “serious” threat posed by terrorist groups operating in the region. “One should avoid such a delusive policy that strengthening a certain terrorist group would enable us to repel the threat of another terrorist group,” he underlined.
The Norwegian diplomat, for his part, commended Iran for its “influence and unique role” in the region, and praised Tehran for its contribution to the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group.
“If there had not been Iran’s vigilance and timely intervention to counter the ISIL threat, that group would have dominated many of important and strategic areas in Syria and Iraq,” Brende added.
The ISIL is a militant group in Iraq and Syria believed to be supported by the West and some regional Arab countries. The terrorist group claims as an independent state the territory of Iraq and Syria, with implied future claims intended over more of the Levant, including Lebanon, occupied Palestine, Jordan, Cyprus, and Southern Turkey.
