Iran-Russia-Syria-Iraq coalition must prevail: Assad

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says the coalition of Iran, Russia, Syria and Iraq must succeed or the entire region will be destroyed.

“This coalition must succeed; otherwise we will see the destruction of the entire [Middle East] region,” Assad said in an interview with the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network, broadcast on Sunday.

“We are certain that this coalition will succeed,” said the Syrian president.

Iraq, Iran, Syria and Russia have formed an intelligence-sharing center in the Iraqi capital in their fight against Takfiri terrorists wreaking havoc mainly in Syria and Iraq.

Assad said the coalition member states, especially Iran and Russia, are well-experienced in combating terrorism.

He expressed optimism that the coalition “will achieve outstanding practical results” in their joint military, security and intelligence-sharing cooperation.

“Most countries in the world have felt the real threat of terrorism and most recently numerous remarks have been addressed at international level, indicating support for the aforesaid coalition. Therefore, I think that there are good opportunities for this coalition to succeed,” said Assad.

Russia launched its military campaign against terrorists operating in Syria on September 30 upon a request from the Damascus government.

The Russian air raids come as the US and its allies including the Persian Gulf Arab kingdoms – which have actively supported the foreign-backed war in Syria since 2011 – have been involved in airstrikes against alleged Daesh militants in Syria without authorization from the Syrian government.

Assad also confirmed that Russia’s air strikes are being conducted in coordination with Syrian military officials.

'West had been warned'

Assad said the Syrian government had warned Western and regional supporters of Takfiris against the consequences of their backing of terrorism.

“Terrorism knows no borders,” he said, adding that most leaders of terrorist groups operating in Iraq and Syria “came from Europe.”

Asked about Saudi Arabia’s insistence for the Syrian president to step down, Assad replied, “The issue of political system and/or powers-to-be in this country are an internal affair.”

'Saudi should be last to talk about democracy'

He said Saudi Arabia is not well-placed to speak about democracy in other countries.

“This country is the worst example and the most outdated on the global scale. Therefore, it cannot speak about these issues in the region,” Assad added.

He also slammed meddlesome remarks by top Turkish officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Turkey has been against the government of the Syrian president and support fighting against Syria.

The Syrian president also said that be favored “Syrian-Syrian dialogue” as the only solution to the crisis in his country.

“The self-evident issue in the entire world is that no country talks with terrorists,” he added.

Assad noted that war in his country will continue as long as “certain” governments push ahead with their support for terrorists. 

The foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, which flared in March 2011, has claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people and left over one million injured.

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