Iranian foreign ministry's stance on Turkey's role in Syrian developments

Pars Today- According to Esmail Baqaei, apart from the narrative of other regional countries, Iran was never in Syria to support or defend any specific person or party.

Esmail Baqaei, Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman, in a press conference with media activists on December 17, answered a question about the prominent narrative on Turkey's role in the Syrian developments. He said,

"Others can express their own narratives about the developments and events. What is clear is that both in Doha and the Astana process, and also the summit of 8 countries (5+3), i.e. three members of Astana process plus 5 regional Arab countries, what was taken into consideration and had been mutually agreed and a statement was even issued on it, was the need to stop clashes and [start] negotiations between opposition groups and the Syrian government in order to prevent the growth of terrorism and creation of vacuum in Syria while preserving the Syrian territorial integrity. This was the major concern which was common among all countries participating in Astana process and the summit of 8 (developing) countries. As we see, unfortunately, during the past few days, the Syrian territorial integrity has been seriously invaded by the Zionist regime. Another part of the Syrian land was occupied for the first time in these 50 years. Resolution 350 of the UN Security Council was unilaterally violated and these prove the concern that we, as the Islamic Republic of Iran and other countries, jointly had over the security, stability and territorial integrity of Syria in those very days. The concerns were common and, thus, the efforts of countries or the concerns of the countries participating in Doha were [focused on] prevention of the occurrence of such a situation in Syria.

Let me mention generally that our presence in Syria was a fundamental and principled presence and our exit was a responsible one, too. We were not in pursuit of conquest, dominance and revival of the past empires in Syria. What mattered for us in Syria was to help maintain security of the Syrian people against violent extremism and terrorism (today is the day of fighting terrorism and violent extremism in our calendar). We were present in Syria with this objective and according to the invitation of the ruling and legal Syrian administration.

Our presence was an advisory presence. We were never in Syria to support or defend a specific person or party, and till the last moments, what mattered for us was to help preserve the Syrian security and territorial integrity as an important regional country since we believe that the security and stability of each of the regional countries guarantees security and stability in West Asia."

RM/MG

Key phrases: Syrian developments, Iranian ministry of foreign affairs, Esmail Baqaei, Iran's advisory aid