Iran to continue support for Syria against terrorists, aggressors – aide

Iran will continue backing the Syrian government in the face of terrorists and aggressors, the Iranian supreme leader’s aide on international affairs said Monday. “Iran’s presence in Syria is for the sake of defending the axis of resistance according to agreements [between Iran and Syria],” Mehr news agency quoted Ali Akbar Velayati as saying. Commenting on Western politicians’ claims that Iran is destabilizing the region with its presence in Syria, Velayati underlined that the region belongs to the people who live there. The UK, the US, and France “are not the countries of our region,” he said. “If we are in Iraq and Syria, it is because the legitimate governments of these countries have asked for our help,” the former Iranian foreign minister said. Speaking on Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers, he said there is no way to review or revise it, adding that Iran “will concede to no condition under any circumstances.”