The solution of problems in the Middle East and North Africa requires the participation of external actors "which influence the situation on the ground in one way or another. To a full extent, this also refers to Iran and to what has to be done to settle the Syrian crisis” he said, the Tass news agency reported.
The Russian foreign minister made the remarks in reply to a question about US President Donald Trump’s latest remarks against Tehran.
In a Sunday speech to Arab Muslim leaders in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Trump singled out Iran as the world’s “biggest sponsor of terrorism” and urged its isolation, claiming that Iran’s role in Syria was among the “most tragic and destabilizing interventions.”
The Russian foreign minister rejected Trump’s view, saying that the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) "focuses precisely on the principle of inclusiveness, the principle of involving all external actors, and Iran is in the nucleus of this group."
Over the past six years, Syria has been fighting foreign-sponsored militancy. UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimated in August that more than 400,000 people had been killed in the Syrian crisis until then. The UN has stopped its official casualty count in Syria, citing its inability to verify the figures it receives from various sources.