Iran, Russia engaged in real fight against terrorism: Larijani

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says the Islamic Republic and Russia are engaged in a “real” war on terrorism contrary to some other countries merely claiming to fight the scourge.

“Iran and Russia have a successful experience in the fight against terrorism,” Larijani said in a meeting with Speaker of Russia’s State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin in the South Korean capital of Seoul on Tuesday.

He added that Tehran and Moscow had managed to take “positive measures” to help resolve the crisis in Syria through political approaches, in particular through the Astana talks process.

The Astana talks have brought representatives from the government in Damascus and opposition groups to the negotiating table. The first round of the Astana talks took place on January 23-24, followed by the second round on February 15-16 and the third round on March 14-15. The next round of peace negotiations on Syria is scheduled to take place in the Kazakh capital on July 4-5.

Larijani further pointed to the “very complicated problem” and the “human catastrophe” in Yemen and said, “We think that the Saudis have committed a strategic mistake about the Yemeni issue.”

The top Iranian parliamentarian added that the Saudis were trapped in a quagmire in Yemen.

Since March 2015, Yemen has been heavily bombarded by Saudi warplanes as part of a brutal campaign against the Arabian Peninsula country in an attempt to crush the popular Houthi movement and reinstall the former president, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh.

Nearly 3.3 million Yemeni people, including 2.1 million children, are currently suffering from acute malnutrition. Latest tallies show that the war has so far killed over 12,000 Yemenis and wounded thousands more. The Saudi aggression has also taken a heavy toll on the country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.

Heading a delegation, Larijani arrived in Seoul on Monday to attend a three-day conference of parliamentary leaders from 25 Asian and European countries.

Good Iran-Russia cooperation on terror fight

Volodin, for his part, said Iran and Russia enjoyed good cooperation in the campaign against terrorism and promoted international security.

He invited Larijani to pay a visit to Moscow, saying that the parliaments of Iran and Russia must continue drawing up plans to fight terrorism.

The Duma speaker also urged the parliaments of Asian and European countries to pay more serious attention to the Syrian crisis.

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