Resurgence of terrorism in Syria ‘American-Zionist plot’ after failure in Lebanon: Iran
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has called the resurgence of Takfiri terrorism in northern Syria the outcome of an American-Israeli project, noting that the development followed the Israeli regime’s defeats against resistance in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.
The top diplomat made the remarks during a telephone conversation with his Syria counterpart Bassam al-Sabbagh on Friday.
Araghchi described the unwelcome development as “an American-Zionist design” that had ensued the Israeli regime’s defeats at the hands of resistance movements in Lebanon and throughout the Palestinian territories.
The comments echoed those made by the official in a Thursday phone call with his Lebanese counterpart Abdallah Bou Habib, during which the former had called the phenomenon a US-Israeli scenario aimed at destabilizing West Asia after failures of the Zionist regime in confronting Lebanon’s Hezbollah resistance movement.
Araghchi also underlined that the menace of terrorism had been countered effectively by the Arab country.
‘Iran keeps up support for Syria in face of terrorism’
Araghchi underlined the Islamic Republic’s continued support for the Syrian government, nation, and army towards fighting terrorism and protecting regional security and stability.
The comments reflected Tehran’s acting as the first country to rush to the Arab nation’s support in 2014, when foreign-backed terrorism and militancy swept large swathes of the country.
Damascus, however, managed to gradually reverse the tide with the help of its allies, regaining the lost territory and vanquishing Daesh, the most brutal of the terrorist outfits, in 2017.
Sabbagh, meanwhile, reported on the situation on the ground in northern Syria following the terrorist attacks.
The Syrian army has managed to stop the terrorists, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, from advancing in Aleppo.
He insisted that the Syrian state and people were standing up to terrorist aggression with all their might, and would keep preventing terrorists and their supporters from realizing their sinister ambitions.
Members of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Takfiri terrorist group were reported to have overrun many government-controlled areas and killed dozens of Syrian soldiers in the Arab country’s north.
Later, though, Lebanon’s al-Mayadeen television network said the Syrian army had thwarted large-scale terrorist operations in the Aleppo Province through a preemptive strike.
Four major terrorist operations, which were set to begin from the town of Anadan, 12 kilometers (7 miles) northwest of Aleppo, were foiled before they could begin, the network said.
According to the report, the army launched intensified missile attacks on terrorist positions that stretch from villages in western Aleppo to Mount Zawiya south of the city of Idlib in an adjacent province.
The Syrian army was also said to have halted the advance of terrorists led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in southeastern Idlib and launched a counterattack to regain ground.
