TEHRAN, Jul. 29 (MNA) – Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman deemed al-Nusra’s changing name to Jabhat Fath al-Sham a mere play on words that did not alter its terrorist nature.

Bahram Ghasemi further stressed that the rebrand would not alter the terrorist nature of the Takfiri group, which is fighting in Syria to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

“The aim of this ‘game’ is an attempt to remove al-Nusra from the list of terror groups, but the despicable face of extremism and terrorism cannot be purified through such moves,” he said.

Ghasemi deemed the move a sign of the political bankruptcy of the extremists’ sponsors in the region led by Saudi Arabia as the founder and sponsor of al-Qaeda, Taliban, ISIL, al-Nusra Front and many others terrorist groups, particularly in Syria.

The Iranian diplomat further called on the international community to pay special attention to the root causes of terrorism and its consequences, and to exert pressure on the founders and sponsors of these groups in order to eradicate them.

In a debut video appearance on Thursday, the leader of al-Nusra Front in Syria Abu Mohammad al-Julani announced that the group has split from al-Qaeda and rebranded to Jabhat Fath al-Sham, or The Front for liberation of al-Sham.

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