Leader's aide suspicious about US support for Syrian ceasefire

Leader's top adviser for international affairs Ali Akbar Velayati raised doubt about Washington's real intentions in supporting the current ceasefire in Syria.

"The Americans don’t have good intentions for supporting the Syrian ceasefire. They seek to affect regime change in Damascus," Velayati told reporters in Tehran on Tuesday.

He said the current ceasefire is a pretext to overthrow the government of President Bashar al-Assad, adding that a UN resolution supporting truce in Syria is unprecedented.

Stressing that the future of Syria should be decided by its own people, Velayati said the UN and outside powers have no right to make decision for the Syrian people.

In relevant remarks on Monday, former MI6 agent and EU foreign policy adviser Alastair Crooke said the cessation of hostilities in Syria almost certainly does not mean the end of the Syrian war, as US, Turkish and Saudi proxies are using the timeout to regroup, rearm and prepare.

Velayati is a senior advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

EA