MOSCOW, January 13. /TASS/. The plundering of Syria’s resources will end only after the United States’ complete withdrawal from the Middle East, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said in Tehran on Monday at a meeting with Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis.
"The region will not regain stability, peace and security as long as American terrorist forces continue to be there," Mehr News Agency quotes him as saying. "Undoubtedly, the United States’ withdrawal will be achieved through unity between the nations and governments of the region."
Shamkhani noted that Iran supported the Syrian government’s efforts aimed at putting an end to the presence of terrorist groups in Idlib. "The looting of Syria’s oil and the plundering of its resources is a tragedy, which will end, when the US fully withdraws from the region," he said.
Syria’s Defense Minister Ali Abdullah Ayyoub and the country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem arrived in Tehran for talks as well.
Earlier on Monday, the Syrian prime minister pointed to the "deep nature of cooperation between Syria and Iran," adding that the Syrian delegation’s visit was taking place at a time when Iran is facing a new phase of the war against the country and the entire region. He expressed Syria’s full solidarity with Iran and reiterated support for Iran’s right to self-defense and countermeasures against conspiracies.
He also spoke in favor of "strengthening cooperation between Syria and Iran in the face of conspiracies and unfair sanctions imposed on both countries.".