Rouhani felicitates Leader, Gen. Soleimani on victory against ISIL

Speaking at the Fifth National Congress of the House of Farmers on Tuesday in Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani extended his appreciation to "all warriors of Islam, our diplomats, the government and the nation, as well as the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, armed forces and the Iraqi and Syrian nation for their efforts to put an end to a terrorist group that did not bring anything for us but misery, destruction, murder and savagery.”

"ISIL terrorist group is sponsored and armed by major world powers and some reactionary countries of the region, outperforming the most notorious criminals of history by their heinous crimes," he added.

Noting that the eradication of ISIL from Syria was very good news for the Iranian nation and the peoples of the region, President Rouhani said "the bulk of the work was done by the people and armies of Syria, Iraq and Lebanon and we helped them out of our religious and Islamic duty.”

"Today, with the help of God and the tremendous efforts of the peoples of the region, we can say that the scourge of ISIL terrorism has either been removed or weakened considerably. Some remaining terrorists spread throughout towns will continue their operations, but their foundations have been dismantled," Rouhani stressed.

Rouhani went on to congratulate the ultimate victory against ISIL terrorists in Syria to Ayatollah Khamenei, the Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Quds Force, particularly Major General Ghasem Soleimani, saying "tomorrow, the presidents of Iran, Turkey and Russia will meet in a tripartite summit [in Russian city of Sochi] to discuss the future of Syria and the region.”

The one-day summit is aimed to further dialogue over finding a political settlement for the over a 6.5-year crisis in Syria.

To prepare the agenda of the summit and the early draft of the final statement of the event, senior experts from the three guarantor states of Iran, Turkey, and Russia convened in Iranian capital city of Tehran on Saturday and then the three foreign ministers of the troika met a day later on Sunday in Turkish port city of Antalya.

Iran, Russia, and Turkey are the three guarantor states of Syria peace process who supervise the establishment of peace and conclusion of political resolution for the war-struck country.