UN Aleppo Resolution an Infiltration Attempt

A high-ranking security official said a recent United Nations Security Council resolution on the Syrian city of Aleppo is an attempt to pave the way for the deployment of foreign intelligence officers to the city under the cover of UN observers.

Speaking at a press briefing in Tehran on Tuesday, Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, referred to the resolution passed on Monday and said the document prioritized the evacuation of militants in Aleppo over the safe exit of civilians in militant-held areas.

Aleppo, a hotbed of the nearly six years of foreign-sponsored militancy against the Syrian government, has almost entirely been liberated in recent military operations by Damascus and its allies.

Fresh operations will be launched on Tuesday to retake the single remaining enclave still held by the militants in the city.

Over the course of the push to free Aleppo, some western and regional countries engaged in creating hype and vilifying the Syrian, Russian and Iranian militaries.

The Monday resolution, an offshoot of such efforts, calls for the deployment of UN observers to Aleppo, where anti-Damascus militants are being allowed by the Syrian government to leave for militant-held territory in Idlib Province or government-held territory elsewhere.

Shamkhani said the resolution was prioritizing the exit of militants and had chosen to ignore the role of Syrian government.

"This unacceptable behavior by the West and some countries of the region shows that the instrumental use of terrorism for political objectives has strategic dimensions," he said.

Under an evacuation deal, civilians are also being taken out of two militant-besieged villages of Foua and Kefraya.

Earlier, the militants attacked the buses used to evacuate those civilians and set them on fire. The UN resolution has been criticized for making no references to such crimes by militants.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Defense Minister Hossein Dehqan were in Moscow for talks with Russian and Turkish counterparts on the situation in Syria.

Describing the meetings as routine, Shamkhani said Iran and Russia are determined to continue their cooperation in the war on terror. He said Moscow was Iran's "partner in the fight against terror."

Iran has been offering advisory assistance to the Syrian government.