Promotion of good governance in regional countries can prevent people from joining extremist groups and would deny terrorists new breeding grounds, says Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Despite the territorial defeat of the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group in Iraq and Syria, the region is still vulnerable to the formidable challenge presented by extremism, Zarif told a session of the Valdai Discussion Club in the Russian capital Moscow on Monday, according to a text of his speech carried by Fars News Agency.
“Their networks are almost intact, and their hate ideology still being spread by the same petrodollars,” he said, adding that the offshoots IS planted in the wider region from Libya to Afghanistan are “death machines on rampage.”
With such capacity still preserved, they look for new breeding grounds so regional countries must join together to deny them such fertile environments by addressing current crises and issues at hand, the minister stated.
Domestic Component
He argued that fighting extremism has undoubtedly a domestic component and a number of steps can be taken to reduce the appeal of extremism.
According to Zarif, promoting good governance, upholding the rule of law, eliminating corruption, rebuilding the social compact, reducing poverty and social inequalities as well as measures that can help prevent real or perceived marginalization and exclusion can stop people from being drawn to terrorist groups.
“The chronic failure of some states to satisfy the minimum demands of their populace for dignity has undermined their effectiveness and created widening social gaps for extremism to exploit,” he noted.
Foreign Intervention
In his speech, Zarif also said the major impediment in the way of stabilizing Syria is the new wave of foreign intervention in defiance of international law, which threatens to further escalate and create even more permanent social and ethnic divisions.
“The US announcement that it will maintain a military presence on Syrian soil and create a militia there constitutes flagrant aggression under international law,” he added, noting that it emanates from an ill-conceived obsession coupled with impulsive uncalculated reaction with far-reaching local, national, and regional ramifications.
The minister said Washington is pursuing a short-sighted and mostly profiteering geo-economic agenda that has nothing to do with fighting terrorism.
“If this dangerous policy continues, not only extremism stands to benefit enormously but also the risk of a conflagration in Syria will become ever more serious.”
Turkish Incursion
In addition, Zarif referred to Turkey’s recent military campaign in northern Syria, saying that the move would hamper efforts to promote peace in the region.
Turkey launched an incursion into Afrin to rout the US-backed Syrian Kurdish militia, which it considers to be a terrorist organization and an extension of Kurdish insurgents fighting within Turkey.
“While we understand the concerns of our Turkish neighbors about new US adventurism, we are confident that there are appropriate and lawful ways of addressing those concerns through the Syrian government,” the minister stated.
He added that the current military operation does not help the cause of stabilizing Syria, nor is it in the interest of peace and stability in the entire region.
“It is important that all parties avoid situations that inherently increase the probability of more clashes.”
Zarif also said the campaign by the United States and its regional clients to distract attention from the real problems by blaming Iran for their own bad choices will certainly not resolve their problems or compensate for their persistent mistakes.
