Iran has no direct link with Syria’s ruling groups: FM spox

TEHRAN (Iran News) Baghaei said during a weekly press conference on Monday that Iran had been in contact with Syrian opposition groups for a long time before the fall of the Assad government.

He said that the Islamic Republic has told the groups that its presence in Syria was to prevent the advance of the ISIS group and the spread of terrorism to the regional countries.

The diplomat said that attempts by certain actors to undermine relations between different countries.

In response to a question whether the ruling group of Syria has sent a message via Türkiye to Iran, Baghaei said that Iran uses multilateral meetings to discuss various issues, adding that the issue of Syria has been on the agenda of talks between Iran and Türkiye.

Iran’s position is to preserve the sovereignty and integrity of Syria and to help the Syrian people determine their destiny without foreign interference, he said, adding that it is important for Syria not to become a safe haven for terrorists.

Israel’s violation of Palestine’s environmental rights

Baghaei said that the UN General Assembly has been mentioning the Zionist regime’s responsibility for environmental issues since 2007, adding that Palestinian natural resources have been violated and the recent resolution is in line with the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.

He added that another resolution issued by the UNGA in recent days has urged the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for an advisory opinion on the Zionist regime’s policy of stopping the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

No action has been taken to implement the six provisional measures of the ICJ to halt the genocide of the Zionist regime so far, the spokesman said.

D-8 Summit in Cairo

The spokesman said that D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation has been active for nearly three decades and creates a structure for political and economic cooperation among its members.

He said that the recent D-8 meeting in Cairo was also a good opportunity to negotiate with other participating officials,

Baghaei described Egypt as an important country in the Islamic and the Arab world, adding that Iran tends to establish relations with regional countries that are willing to establish relations with Iran.

He said that negotiations between Iran and E3 will continue with agreement between the parties, adding that in a first meeting last month, the parties agreed to hold another meeting which he said will probably be held in mid-January.