Iran will not give up its strategy of supporting the peoples of the Middle East, the secretary of the republic's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Shamkhani, said.
Commenting on the reaction of the West to the wave of protests in major Iranian cities, he stressed that the US is trying to isolate Iran "to not become an example to follow by the region’s peoples in depending on its own capabilities". According to Shamkhani, its hostility against Iran is explained by the desire of the US, Israel and their accomplices to weaken the resistance forces in the region and force them to capitulate. At the same time, he pointed out that Iran will continue to defend the Palestinian people and Lebanese people, and to defend Syria and Iraq.
The secretary also drew attention to the fact that the US military presence in Syria is illegal. According to him, Iran and Russia are in Syria upon a legitimate request by the Syrian Government to the contrary of the US which constitutes an occupying force. Shamkhani regarded the presence of US troops as an occupation, noting that "Iran will support Syria, seeking the withdrawal of the US troops from the country."
He also noted that the Iranians "do not wage wars against the US in Syria". "The US occupation forces must leave Syria, they cannot stay there for a long time, we call upon all the international forums to condemn the US occupation in Syria," the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council said.
In addition, he condemned the duplicity of US President Donald Trump, who "makes public anti-Iranian statements, and secretly wants to enter into secret talks with Tehran." "The head of the White House sought a meeting with President Hassan Rouhani during the UN General Assembly, but Iran refused," TASS cited Shamkhani as saying.
According to him, America's attempts to turn the Gulf Cooperation Council into an anti-Iranian alliance failed because of Qatar's position. "Iran is in solidarity with the Qatar people, just as in the case of Kuwait, which was attacked by the troops of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 1990," the admiral said.
The Iranian Interior Ministry said the police and internal security forces "fully control the situation in Tehran and other cities of Iran where street protests took place.
More than 20 people have died and hundreds have been arrested following violent clashes in Iran as anti-government protests continue across the country since December 28, 2017.
