A senior advisor to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution has urged the United Nations to play a more active role in combating terrorism in the region, especially with regard to Iraq and the advances of the self-declared Islamic State (IS) militants in the crisis-hit Arab country.
Ali Akbar Velayati said, "It is the duty of the United Nations to act properly and play a more serious role in combating terrorism," adding, "The UN should identify those countries that support terrorists and Daesh (IS) in the region," IRNA reported.
Velayati, who is the director for the Center for Strategic Research of the Expediency Council, made the remarks in a meeting with UN special representative for Iraq Nickolay Mladenov in Tehran on Sunday. He said, "IS militants and some other terrorist groups are the product of certain regional and western countries, the same countries that claim they are fighting terrorism."
"These countries have provided terrorist groups, including Daesh, with necessary financial and military resources as well as training."
"If those groups do not receive foreign backing, the Iraqi nation and army would be able to overcome," he commented.
"Tehran will always defend the elected and legitimate government of Iraq and we are ready to cooperate at international level in order to help the campaign against terrorist groups, including Daesh. However, we believe foreign countries should not interfere in Iraq's internal affairs." Velayati also said, "Regional challenges should be resolved through peaceful means and not through resorting to military means; however, we see certain countries in the region as well as western countries have allowed themselves to interfere in the domestic affairs of Iraq and Syria."
"Such approaches violate international law and norms; and it is the responsibility of the UN to prevent them."
The UN envoy, for his part, said he has traveled to Iran to gain a better understanding of Tehran's position on Iraq.
