Iranian President: There should be no Turkish or US forces in Syria

The Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi concluded his visit to Syria, as he gave an interview stated that Tehran is playing a mediating role between Damascus and Ankara, and assured about all foreign forces must leave Syrian territory.

In his interview posted by the official Syrian News Agency, SANA, on Friday, in which Raisi said that his country is ready to bridge the views of the two Muslim countries, referring to Syria and Türkiye.

He continued, “The problems between the two countries can be resolved through negotiations and dialogue, adding, “We discussed this issue in the Astana meeting and in the meetings of foreign ministers as well”.

The Iranian president said, “We stressed in the Astana meeting, in which the Russian and Turkish presidents participated, that all Syrian lands must return to Damascus, and that Syria’s territorial integrity must be preserved”.

He continued, “Our Turkish friends said that they feel insecure at some points of the border with Syria… We told them that the solution is for the Syrian state to impose its sovereignty on all its lands, which will achieve security”.

Raisi explained that Iran believes that the Turks’ control of some lands won’t prevent security problems, and that the opposite is true.

Raisi said, “There should be no Turkish forces on any part of the Syrian territory, and all US forces must leave”.

The Iranian president pointed out that the Syrian territorial integrity must be preserved and the sovereignty of the Syrian state should be recognized over all of its territory.

The Iranian President concluded a visit, the first of its kind to Syria in 13 years, in response to an official invitation from his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al Assad, who visited Tehran twice over the past years, the first in February 2019, and the second in May 2022.