Assad Defends Iran’s Presence in Syria as Legitimate

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has reiterated that Iran's presence on the ground in his country is "legitimate" as it was requested by the Damascus government, according to an interview published on Sunday by state media.
"The Russians were invited by the Syrian government, their existence in Syria is a legitimate existence, the same for the Iranians. While for the United States, the UK, it is illegal, it is an invasion, they are breaching the sovereignty of Syria—a sovereign country. So, their existence is not legal at all, it is an illegitimate existence," he said in an interview with British newspaper the Mail on Sunday, carried in full by Syrian state news agency SANA.