Top Iranian Official Congratulates Syria on Advances against Terrorists in Deir Ez-Zor

In a message to his Syrian counterpart, Ali Mamlouk, Shamkhani hailed the Syrian troops’ success to break the siege on Deir ez-Zor after three years and praised the important role of the Arab country’s president and the resistance forces in the achievement.

The successive victories over Takfiri terrorists in Syria and Iraq and liberation of important and strategic areas from the militants herald a bright future in a secure and stable region, he added.

"The active, real, and close cooperation between Iran, Syria, Iraq, and Russia, as well as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, has led to extensive achievements in the fight against Daesh and terrorism…,” Shamkhani said in the message.

Syrian government forces advanced against Daesh on Tuesday to reach troops surrounded for years by the terrorists in a government-held enclave in Deir ez-Zor, a report said.

"The Syrian army and its allies break the siege on Deir ez-Zor,” a media unit run by Hezbollah said, Reuters reported.

State television and the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that advancing Syrian forces had linked up with government troops in Deir ez-Zor.

The army and its allies had made lightning advances in recent days and pushed through Daesh lines to within kilometers of Deir ez-Zor.

Deir ez-Zor is located southeast of Daesh’s main stronghold Raqqa.

Both cities lie in oil-rich areas on the Euphrates River.

Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh, currently controlling parts of it.

According to a report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.