DUBAI, December 3. /TASS/. Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Mohammad Bagheri and Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov spoke by phone and exchanged views on the spike of terrorist activity in northern Syria, Iranian television reported.

"The offensive by terrorist groups was the first perilous step in the development of events in the region. This attack took place simultaneously with the ceasefire deal between the Zionist regime (Israel - TASS) and Lebanon, which speaks to a US-Zionist plot to weaken the Axis of Resistance," the general was quoted as saying by an Iranian government-controlled broadcaster.

According to the broadcaster, the Iranian military official expressed the same position in phone talks with his Syrian and Iraqi counterparts.

"Syria's neighbors should take the necessary measures to prevent terrorists from receiving [external] assistance," Bagheri said.

On the morning of November 27, the Jabhat al-Nusra extremist group (banned in Russia) carried out a major attack in northern Syria. According to the Syrian armed forces, the terrorists attempted to attack villages and towns under the protection of the Syrian armed forces and military sites, continuing to target the positions of government units. The Syrian military started an operation to repel the raid. On November 30, the country’s military command stated that the armed forces were conducting strikes on the positions of terrorists who had infiltrated many neighborhoods of the city of Aleppo. According to the Syrian Defense Ministry, the armed forces had to regroup to protect the lives of civilians and troops and prepare for a counterattack.