Iran’s Velayati: Terrorists from over 80 Countries Operating in Region
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Head of the Strategic Research Center of Iran's Expediency Council Ali Akbar Velayati censured foreign-backed militancy in some war-stricken countries in the Middle East, saying that terrorists from more than 80 countries are operating in the region.
A large number of terrorists from various nationalities are active in regional countries and fighting against legitimate governments, Velayati said in a meeting with Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations Jan Eliasson in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Tuesday.
He added that the terrorists are destroying civilization and culture of the regional countries, particularly in Syria and Iraq, like what happened in Afghanistan.
Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with Takfiri terrorists from various groups, including the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), currently controlling parts of it.
Since June 2014, Iraq has also witnessed a fresh wave of violence after ISIL terrorists took control of large swathes of the war-stricken country.
Velayati further pointed to the massive attacks on Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition, saying that Saudis are destroying the infrastructure of the Arabian Peninsula nation through bombarding civilian areas and archeological sites.
The UN’s top official, for his part, pointed to regional crises, saying the international body is trying its hardest to restore peace and security to the region.
The remarks came as Yemen's defenseless people have been under massive attacks by a coalition led by the Saudi regime for months.
On March 26, Saudi Arabia and some of its Arab allies, including the UAE, began to launch deadly airstrikes against the Houthi Ansarullah movement in an attempt to restore power to the fugitive former President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh.
More than 4000 people, many of them children and women, have been killed in the Saudi-led aggression against the Arab country so far.
