Velayati: Iran to continue advisory mission in Syria; US dream not to come true

TEHRAN, Jul. 14 (MNA) – Iranian Leader's Senior Adviser Ali Akbar Velayati has said that US dreams will not come true and Iran will continue its advisory presence in Syria, adding "if Iran and Russia exit Syria, ISIL will return the country." Velayati made the remarks on Friday in Moscow’s Valdai Discussion Club while spelling out regional policies of Iran. Iran’s presence in the region is upon the invitation of Syrian and Iraqi governments and is advisory, he said, adding, “whenever they decide, we will leave these countries.” He went on to say that without Iranian and Russian helps, Al-Nusra Front would have dominated Syria and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi would have governed Iraq now. Iran has not asked for US permission neither to enter Iraq and Syria nor to withdraw from these countries, he highlighted, adding that United States, Israel and Saudi Arabia are those who have an aggressive presence in Iraq and Syria. Although Donald Trump told Hilary Clinton that she and her boss had created ISIL, Trump himself is following his predecessor in this regard, he added. ISIL creators are those who forced some 10 million Syrian people, out of its total 26 million population, to migrate to other countries, Velayati noted. Syria and Iraq could not stand against the US and Saudi Arabia without help, he said, adding that some 80 percent of Syrian soil has been freed by the help of Iran, Russia and Hezbollah. Saying that Iran and Russia have strategic cooperation to defend legal governments of the region, Velayati highlighted that if secession happens in one country of the region, it will have a domino effects in all other countries.