Iran will resist divisive plots in Mideast: Leader’s aide

EghtesadOnline: A senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says Iran will resist any plot aimed at weakening or dividing up countries in the Middle East.

News ID: ۷۴۲۵۰۷

04 July 2017

“Undoubtedly, regional nations will never yield to the demands of extremist movements and their allies and it is better to take steps for the establishment of regional peace, stability and security through international will,” Ali Akbar Velayati, who advises the Leader on international affairs, said in a meeting with Christian Masset, secretary general of the French foreign affairs ministry, in Tehran on Monday.

According to PressTV, he urged the European Union and Western countries to take up “more independent policies” vis-a-vis regional and international issues.

“On the West Asian and North African issues, global cooperation and coordination as well as firm determination and will must be established to counter extremist, Takfiri and terrorist movements,” Velayati said.

He added that some countries are exploiting tensions and crises in the region and are not interested in the establishment of regional peace and stability.

“However, Iran has over the past years been standing up against and resisting all these movements that have disturbed global peace and security,” the senior Iranian official said.

In line with its principled and fundamental policy, Iran wants the preservation of the territorial integrity of regional countries, he added.

Velayati also expressed Iran’s readiness to cooperate with France and other countries seeking to promote global peace and stability.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he pointed to deep-rooted relations between Tehran and Paris and called on the two countries’ officials to take more serious steps to boost cooperation and remove obstacles in the path to such ties.

Common Iran-France stance on regional issues

The French official, for his part, said Tehran and Paris have common stance on regional issues.

Masset also said the two countries enjoy deep-rooted relations and must use their potential to further expand cooperation.

The French foreign ministry official is visiting Tehran few days after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif traveled to Paris on the third leg of a European tour on Thursday. The top Iranian diplomat held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian and President of the French Senate Gerard Larcher.