President says any foreign intervention 'very dangerous'

President Hassan Rouhani says the Islamic Republic pursues a very transparent stance in combating terrorism in the Middle East, warning of the “very dangerous” consequences of any act of foreign intervention in the internal affairs of other countries.

“We regard as very dangerous [acts of] intervention by foreign countries without any coordination with the host country and believe that [for any foreign measure,] the Syrian and Iraqi governments must request help and demand that another country act against terrorism inside their territories,” President Rouhani told reporters at the end of his visit to the central Iranian province of Markazi on Monday.

“This [regulation] is based on international principles and [any move] contrary to it will exacerbate insecurity,” he added.

He said the Middle East has been grappling with the problem of terrorism for years and added that Western powers are not interested in the elimination of this phenomenon in the region despite being plagued by the scourge and its consequences.

“Some big powers are toying with terrorist groups in line with their own illegitimate goals and despite overflowing the region with tools and equipment, they are not carrying out any positive measure against them [terrorists],” the Iranian president stated.

He urged regional countries to respect the territorial integrity of other countries because “shifting borders is very dangerous.”

President Rouhani’s remarks came as thousands of Iraqi army soldiers, fighters from pro-government Popular Mobilization Units and Kurdish Peshmerga forces are taking part in the military operation to retake the northern city of Mosul, the last major stronghold of the Daesh Takfiri group in the Arab country, from the terrorists since October 17.

SS