In the second part of the interview carried out with Syrian ambassador to Tehran Mr. Adnan Mahmoud, the focus has shifted to Syrian crisis, the role of Saudi Arabia in Syria, Turkey’s downing of the Russian fighter jet and the prospects of Vienna talks on Syrian crisis:
Recently, Ankara has summoned Russia ambassador to Turkey to voice objections over Russian strikes which targeted Turkoman tribal region in Syria. Is Turkey seeking a more extended engagement in Syrian situation?
Turkey’s claims on targeting of Turkoman tribal region in Syria by Russians are sheer lies, and the contrary holds true; not only Syria but also the world as well have admitted that Turkey, during 4 past years (since the wake of Syrian crisis) has been supporting terrorism inside Syria. It is also admitted by US vice-president that US allies, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey have supported ISIL and Al-Nusra Front, which has been especially clear since the last 18 months when the official flag of these groups had been raised in different parts of Turkey by the groups’ sympathizers or recruiters, and the Turkish government has tacitly supported them; we believe that Russian involvement in Syria has been in line with international law and UN charter and by an official request by Syrian government, while Turkish support for terrorism clearly violates the UN resolutions on fighting terrorism and the UN charter as well.
Given the speculations that Saudi Arabia will host on December different Syrian opposition groups in Riyadh, how would you evaluate Saudi Arabian record in Syria?
Saudi Arabia has been accomplice to the crimes committed against Syrian civilians and an avowed supporter of Takfirism extremist ideology behind the atrocities in Syria either in arms or in money; Adel Al-Jubeir officially has proclaimed support for terrorists in broad daylight; thus, we believe Saudi government should be subject to the harshest pressures by international community to stop its bloody adventurism in Syria.
Some groups has proposed a snap election in Syria; would Syrian government show consent to this election?
Syrian people would only decide on this and before Takfirism defeat in Syria, any word about any political development would prove failure; fighting terrorism should be a guiding principle of any political change; Syrian citizens should come to a consensus on what would be the future of their country.
What would you think of Paris terrorist attacks?
By convention, Bashar al-Assad and Syrian government official condemn terrorist attacks in Paris, and any terrorism in any spot on the planet is despicable, since Syria brings the scar of terrorism on itself. We condemn death of innocent civilians; however, the strategic errors committed by the West and France herself in supporting terrorism have invited terrorism to their backyard in the heart of Europe. This is a threat Syria has been warned supporters of terrorism 4 years ago.
We know that thousands of foreign terrorists fighting in Syria who had been helped in reaching Syria by Turkey; now, France should seriously review its policies which amounted to disaster to join the party fighting terrorism, abandoning all double-standards. Any country with willing to fight terrorism should cooperate with the countries really fighting terrorism on the ground.
The active support for terrorism seeks to weaken Syria and its role in the broader resistance against the Zionist regime; they also seek to serve and realize western and US interests in the region, which is parallel with destabilizing the whole region to plunder natural resources of the region; terrorism knows no borders for itself. What Iran has done in the region is crucial to bring stability to the region as its highly principled role in line with its moral and ethical strategy undeniable by any country in the region.
Is there any level of cooperation between Syria and Egypt in fighting terrorism?
We did have some contacts with Egyptian officials, and we have recently seen positive positions taken by Egypt on terrorism, supporting Syrian role in fighting extremism; we and Egypt face a common enemy and all should join an international coalition which really fights terrorism, unlike western coalition which only claims on paper fighting terrorism, covertly supporting it.
How would you see international community’s difference of position on Beirut and Paris victims of terrorist attacks?
Western and US double-standards on terrorism is violation of the fundamental laws of international community and against any human value and morality; no notable Arab and Western country were seen to condemn what ISIL did in Burj Barajneh neighborhood of Beirut killing tens of innocent people and wounding many others, while we saw a host of condemnations coming from Arab or Western countries on Paris terrorist attacks, while the nature of atrocity is the same in both events, and attempts to fight terrorism should be the same in different regions. Wahhabism is the most virulent virus among the viri upholding the violence and atrocity against human achievements of peace and civilization and seeks to destroy the whole generations of humanity. Today, our fight is not only military, but it is moral, ethical, and religious.
Interview by: Somayeh Khomarbaqi, Mohammad Mazhari
Read the original version of this interview in Arabic here.