Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif underlined the need for dialogue and cooperation among regional countries to ensure the complete elimination of the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group by addressing the underlying causes of its formation.
"Daesh is a lingering threat to the world and the region and there is an obvious need for planning for a long-term cultural campaign to address the roots of such threat and fight against the extremist ideologies and also for cooperation and dialogue between regional countries," Zarif was quoted by Fars News Agency as saying on Saturday.
Daesh is an Arabic acronym for IS, the most hated terrorist group that managed to bring under control vast areas of Syria three years after an ongoing civil war erupted there in 2011.
Large swathes of neighboring Iraq were also captured by IS in the group's lightning offensive in 2014.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a conference on the situation in the region in the wake of the IS collapse, Zarif said, "We hope that the Islamic Republic, which has been at the forefront of the anti-IS fight in its earlier stages, could also play an effective and positive role in later stages to combat extremism and promote the culture of dialogue, cooperation, and joint efforts in our region, particularly the Persian Gulf region."
***Main Culprit
Iran's advisory support to the militaries of the two Arab countries proved instrumental to the fall of the self-proclaimed IS caliphate late last year, Zarif noted.
"The role of the advisory help provided by Iran in the fight against Daesh, which is a menace to international security, has been very important."
Elsewhere, in an address to the conference, the top diplomat blamed the meddling of the outside powers in the affairs of regional states for the emergence of the IS.
"The conditions leading to the formation of Daesh in our region still persist. Intervention by foreigners is the main culprit," he said, adding that "Daesh is the outcome of the US invasion of Iraq [in 2003]."
