Iran urges West to learn lessons from mistakes in Mideast
An Iranian deputy foreign minister says the West must learn lessons from its “repeated mistakes” in dealing with terrorism in the Middle East.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks during a Sunday meeting with Tsukasa Uemura, the director-general of Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the Iranian capital, Tehran.
Amir-Abdollahian said Iran views as contradictory the intentions of the United States and its allies in tackling the crisis in Syria and the battle against terrorism and the ISIL Takfiri militants.
He added that Iran is open to help find a political solution to the conflict in Syria.
A political solution should take into account the current realities on the ground in Syria, the Iranian official stated.
Amir-Abdollahian said the fight against terrorism in Syria should be genuine, and work must be done for the repatriation of Syrian refugees and the dispatch of international humanitarian assistance to the country.
The two sides of the Sunday meeting also discussed the issue of Iraq, where ISIL has been committing savagery against the people and security forces.
Uemura said work must be done for the reinforcement of the central Iraqi government and the country’s armed forces.
The Japanese official added that instability in the Middle East threatens the international community. He said Tokyo is also ready to send humanitarian aids to Syria.
In addition to Syria, ISIL controls large areas of Iraq’s north and west. The group sent its militants into Iraq in June, seizing large parts of land along the border between the two countries.