Iran calls on US to stop funding terrorists

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, in a Monday morning meeting with Vice-President of the German Bundestag Claudia Roth, called for a stop to the financing of terrorism by self-proclaimed advocates of human rights, making reference to the US.

It is imperative to put a stop to the financing of terrorism and the undermining measures by those countries claiming to defend human rights, Larijani said this morning in Qatari capital city of Doha, on the sidelines of the 140th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

“Regrettably, the US has blocked the Red Cross's aid to the flood-hit people of Iran, and this is a move from a country that claims to defend human rights,” he noted, making it clear he meant Washington as a self-proclaimed defender of human rights.

Iran is doing its utmost to eliminate terrorism from the region, Larijani said, adding that it is necessary that countries that claim to defend human rights should be stopped from financing terrorism.

Referring to long-standing relations between Iran and Germany in economic and political areas, he stressed the importance of developing relations between two countries.

The German senior parliamentarian, for her part in the meeting, expressed her sympathy with Iranian government and nation over the recent devastating floods in Iran.“Iran plays a very important role in the region and, given the country's influence in the region, it is essential that it play a pivotal role in rebuilding areas that are under terrorist attacks, including Syria,” she added.

On March 20, The Syrian foreign ministry condemned Washington's plans to allocate $5 million to White Helmets non-governmental organization in Syria as "desperate" and called on the United States to stop funding terrorism.

"This desperate move of the United States… proves that the United States still counts on supporting terrorism as a means to achieve its goals in Syria… The Syrian Arab Republic strongly condemns Washington supporting terrorists, in particular White Helmets, and calls on the US administration to stop financing and delivering arms to al-Nusra and terrorist groups affiliated with it," the foreign ministry stated, Sputnik reported.

Last week, the US State Department revealed plans to allocate $5 million to the White Helmets and the UN International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM) that is investigating crimes in Syria.

The White Helmets non-governmental organization claims to be a group of volunteer rescue workers, who help to prepare Syrians for attacks and carry out rescue operations. However, the group has faced severe criticism on the part of both Syria itself and Russia, which accuse the organization of supporting terrorists and staging provocations involving chemical weapons, aimed at justifying potential foreign interventions in Syria.

EA