Senior Assistant to the Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Asghar Haji, revealed that "Iran's presence in Syria is advisory and will continue as long as the Syrian government and people desire it."
Sputnik news agency reported that Haji warned today that "Israel will face a decisive response that will cause regret if it crosses the red lines." Commenting on Israel's repeated strikes on locations affiliated with Iran and Hezbollah, Asghar Haji stated in an interview with Sputnik that "the nature of the Zionist entity since its inception has been inherently hostile and repressive in the region, which has been its behavior against the Palestinian people and neighboring countries." He added that "while the Syrian government is fighting terrorists, Israel assists the terrorists." He emphasized, "The goal of our presence in Syria is to combat ISIS and terrorist entities, but if the Zionist entity wishes to cross the red lines, it will face a decisive response that it will regret."
Regarding Iran's withdrawal from Syria, the senior diplomat said, "Iran has not received any message regarding the withdrawal of its forces from Syria; we are present at the request of the Syrian government, and our presence is military advisory, which will continue for as long as the Syrian people and government desire."
Asghar Haji continued, "Those who need to leave Syria are those who came illegally and occupied its lands; they are the ones who should leave Syrian territory." He affirmed that "Syrian areas must be under Syrian sovereignty and the Syrian government, which is responsible for maintaining security there."
In previous statements, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed that his country does not want "Syrian territory to be used against Israel, nor to be, as many wish, a battleground for Iranian-Israeli confrontation."
