Iran Concerned over the US Illegitimate Presence in Syria: FM Zarif

"Developments in Syria, including the US’ illegitimate presence, are causing serious concerns," Zarif said. "We hope to continue dialogue with you about that to strengthen the major agreements we (Russia, Iran and Turkey) reached on ways towards political settlement."
 
The minister noted that it is his 22nd visit to Russia. "It demonstrates the depth of strategic relations between Iran and Russia, which have been playing a very important role in maintaining security and stability in our region," Zarif stressed.
 
Apart from that, he hailed the idea of a dialogue between the Persian Gulf nations. "We hope Russia will play a constructive role in organizing such contacts," he said.
 
"We also hope that your plan for settling the situation in Yemen will help put an end to humanitarian disasters in that country," he added.
 
The Iranian Foreign Minister was in Moscow where he delivered a keynote address at the Valdai Discussion Club's conference in Moscow. During his speech earlier Monday, Zarif says Syria is facing a "new wave" of US intervention, where Washington is still pursuing geo-economic interests in the Arab country.
 
"Unfortunately we see a new wave of foreign intervention and occupation particularly by the US, driven by an obsession,” Zarif told the conference.
 
 “If we look at the attack by the US against the Syrian forces on February 7, we see some profiting, a short-sighted geo-economic interest to capture territory," he added.
 
"We believe that the anxiety of our Turkish neighbors about the US designs in the region are understandable, but this is not the way to address those anxiety… Incursions in others' territories is not the way to address the problems," Zarif said
 
Zarif also emphasized that his country has no military bases or military presence in Syria.
 
The foreign minister referred to the Israeli airstrike that hit Syria earlier this month, calling for an end to the Israeli "aggression".
 
Zarif further did not rule out the possibility that Iran and Saudi Arabia could work together to stabilize and rebuild the region.