Iran co-op with regional countries to foil enemies’ plots: Iranian senior official

‘The philosophy of Iran’s presence in Syria and Iraq, and the Iraqis and Syrians being by each other is to thwart these plots,’ Ali Akbar Velayati, the senior advisor to the Supreme Leader in international affairs said on Tuesday in a meeting with a number of Iranian defenders of holy shrines in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

‘If the world of Islam loses its power, others will dominate the Muslims, Velayati said, adding, ‘Our duty is very heavy, because we should help the Islamic countries.’

Talking of the Resistance Front, Velayati said it has been established for the purpose of standing against the Zionist regime’s expansionism, US support for the terrorists and certain Arab countries’ treason.

‘The Resistance Front starts from Tehran, crosses Baghdad, Damascus and Beirut, then reaches Palestine,’ Velayati added.

The enemies, he stressed, are seeking to found a ‘new Middle East,’ which is in fact a ‘disintegrated Middle East.’

‘If we didn’t help Syria, it would be separated, then Iran’s link with Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine would be cut; and ultimately, civil war and conflicts between different races and ethnic groups would begin,’ Velayati concluded.

Velayati arrived in the northwestern Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday afternoon.