Muallem: Rebels in Aleppo ’Will be Definitely Defeated’

Local Editor

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says the Zionist entity’s stance towards the crisis in Syria demonstrates that a plot has been hatched against Damascus. Salehi made remarks in a joint press conference with his counterpart Walid Al-Muallem in Tehran on Sunday. The Iranian foreign minister said it was a surprise that certain regional countries are stepping on the same path against Syria as the Zionist regime. For his part, Muallem stressed that “all the anti-Syrian forces have gathered in Aleppo to fight the government... and they will definitely be defeated." Salehi warned that, if the Syria conflict worsened and the regime of President Bashar Assad fell, the consequences "would engulf the region and eventually the whole world." He described as delusion the thought that if a power vacuum is formed in Syria, another government would simply come to power. He urged Syria's neighbors to think hard about the situation, otherwise "everyone will lose," and all concerned parties to give the Syrian government more time to implement the promised reforms. Syria and Iran accuse several countries in the region, notably Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, of aiding the rebels in their fight against Assad's forces, with direction from the United States and in support of Israeli goals. "Syria is the target of a global plot whose agents are the countries in the region," Muallem said. "The reality is that, for a month now, there has been a propaganda war waged by the United States, Europe and certain Arab countries," he said. The Syrian foreign minister arrived in Iran's capital, Tehran, on Sunday to hold talks with senior Iranian officials regarding recent developments in Syria and bilateral relations between the two countries. State-run news agency IRNA said Muallem was warmly greeted by his counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi and that the two gave a joint news conference later on Sunday. "The Syrian foreign minister in his trip to Tehran will discuss bilateral relations, developments in Syria, and other regional and international issues," IRNA quoted Iran's deputy foreign minister in charge of Arab affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian as saying. He said that, as well as Salehi, Muallem would meet the head of Iran's supreme national security council and a close aide to the Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Saeed Jalili and speaker Ali Larijani. Muallem's visit follows that of a Syrian delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Omar Ghalawanji who held talks with Iranian officials on Wednesday said to focus on boosting economic cooperation. A top Iranian military official, Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, the deputy chief of Iran's joint armed forces, stated on Tuesday that Syria's allies "will not allow regime change" and warned they would land "decisive blows" on Damascus's enemies -- "in particular to the despised Arabs." Jazayeri defined Syria's enemies as "the evil governments of America, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other allies of the terrorists" fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.