Leader's Top Aide:

US Seeking to Disintegrate Islamic States

TEHRAN (defapress)- Iranian Supreme Leader's top aide for international affairs Ali Akbar Velayati warned that the US and other western states are attempting to disintegrate the Muslim countries, stressing that the resistance front will stand against them.

News ID: 68722

Date: 17 February 2018 - 15:05

"The US and the West are attempting to materialize the new Middle-East (plot) and the reality behind this Middle-East is disintegration of Islamic communities. The Americans are trying to disintegrate Syria through its deployment in Eastern Euphrates," Velayati was quoted by the Arabic-language al-Mayadeen news channel as saying at a conference in Iraq on Friday.

He warned that the recent visit by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to the regional states is aimed at sowing discord among the Islamic countries, and said, "The Americans want to establish a base for the NATO with the help of the Islamic states to prevent their unity."

Velayati, meantime, underlined that the Americans and Zionists should know that the resistance front will drive them out of the Eastern Euphrates the same way they were defeated in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria.

In relevant remarks on Wednesday, prominent dissident figure Haytham Manna warned of the US plots to disintegrate Syria, stressing the need for the Syrian army to deploy forces in Afrin in Aleppo province.

"The US scenario entails disintegrating Syria in Eastern Euphrates," Manna, the co-leader of the Syrian Democratic Council, said in an interview with the Arabic-language al-Mayadeen news channel.

"Some parties' opposition to delivering security control of the Afrin region to the Syrian army is a major mistake," he added, expressing the hope that Syrian citizens would understand the danger of the US scenarios in the Eastern parts of their country.

Manna warned that the Israeli lobby in the US and Europe is attempting to sow discord among the Syrian dissidents, and said, "The Syrians who interact with the Israeli enemy are nothing more than trash."

He also lauded the Syrian army for shooting down an Israeli warplane late last week.

His comments came after came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Tuesday that the US actions look like attempts to establish quasi-state East of the Euphrates.

From Russia's point of view, the United States seemed planning to stay in Syria for a long time, maybe even forever, he said.

"Now we hear completely different explanations of our US partners regarding their presence in Syria — they say that this presence should be maintained not only until military tasks are accomplished, but also until there is a stable political process that should end in the transition of power which will be acceptable for all — meaning for the United States — which is a regime change. In general, we have a suspicion…. that the United States wants to stay there for a long time, if not forever," Lavrov told a press conference after the talks with his Belgian counterpart Didier Reynders.

Speaking about the US actions in Syria, Lavrov stated that the US was acting unilaterally, dangerously there, putting the Syrian territorial integrity under a risk.

"The Americans, in my opinion,… are trying to act by dangerous unilateral steps. And by the way, these steps look more and more as part of the line for creating a certain quasi-state on a large part of the Syrian territory — on the Eastern bank of the Euphrates and up to the Iraqi border," Lavrov stated.

As the Minister explained, this "is more and more like a line to undermine the territorial integrity of Syria."

Lavrov expressed hope that the United Nations would ensure transparency of the constitutional process in Syria.

"I hope a lot that the UN, which is responsible for the resolution 2254 implementation, which is responsible for creating an inclusive Syrian dialogue… in its actions will fully take into account the need to stop any steps of external players that lead to undermining the principles of settlement enshrined in the resolution," the Minister stressed.

He went on by saying about the Syrian peace process, noting that Moscow still supported the Kurdish participation in it.

He stressed that the US side was short-sighted, ignoring the Turkish position on Kurds.

"We all know how Turkey treats certain units of the Kurdish militia. It is possible to assess this position in different ways, but this position is a reality. Completely ignoring this position is at least short-sighted. The results of such short-sightedness are also observed in the Afrin," Lavrov added.

The armed conflict has been raging in Syria since March 2011. The peace settlement process is being discussed at different venues: of Astana and Geneva, and the Congress of the Syrian National Dialogue, which took place on January 30 this year in Sochi, was the first since the beginning of the conflict to try to gather a wide range of participants on one negotiating platform.