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Iran's nuclear program

Iran does not want new tensions in the region — president

US President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday Washington's withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani EPA-EFE/ALBA VIGARAY

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

© EPA-EFE/ALBA VIGARAY

CAIRO, May 11. /TASS/. Tehran is committed to maintaining regional stability and security and does not seek new tensions in the region, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday.

"Iran, committed to the approach of creating and strengthening regional stability and security, has consistently sought to ease tensions in the region and is in no way seeking new tensions there," the Iranian leader’s official website quoted him as saying in a phone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Rouhani also said that Iran’s military presence in Syria has played a role in the fight against terrorism.

"The joint struggle by Iran and the people of Iraq and Syria against terrorists of the Islamic State (terrorist group, outlawed in Russia) has resulted in relative stability in Syria and good stability in Iraq, which benefits not only the region, but the entire world as well, including Europe," the Iranian leader said.

According to an earlier statement by the German Federal Government’s press service, Merkel urged Iran "to contribute to de-escalation in the region" and condemned the recent attack on Israeli military posts in the occupied Golan Heights area.

Earlier this week, the pro-Iranian Al-Quds forces deployed in Syria launched no less than 20 missiles and other projectiles at the advanced positions of Israeli Army units on the Golan Heights. Israel intercepted some of the Iranian missiles with the aid of the Iron Dome air defense systems while others fell short of striking the targets.

SANA news agency said later Syria’s air defense forces had downed dozens Israeli missiles fired from the territory of the occupied Golan Heights.

Israel took control over the Golan Heights that had belonged by Syria from 1944 after the Six-Day War in 1967. In 1981, Israel’s Knesset (parliament) passed a law on the Golan Heights unilaterally proclaiming Israel’s sovereignty over this territory. United Nations Security Council Resolution 497 of December 17, 1981 ruled that the annexation was null and void, having no international legal effect.

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Iran's nuclear program issue

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