A deputy foreign minister said respect for the national sovereignty of countries is crucial to a genuine campaign against terrorism. “We believe that an effective and serious fight and confrontation with terrorism must be carried out in accordance with international regulations and respect for the countries’ territorial integrity and independence,” Hossein Jaberi Ansari told IRNA in Damascus on Tuesday. He said any campaign against terrorism within a country’s territory must be conducted in coordination with its government, warning that any fight against terrorism outside such a framework will yield negative outcomes in the long run even if positive results are achieved in the short term. “Trespassing on a country’s soil without any coordination to fight terrorism will exacerbate problems and escalate terrorism and extremism,” he said. The senior diplomat was in Damascus where he met high-ranking Syrian officials, including President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, to discuss the latest developments in Syria and mutual relations.
