No Change in Iran’s Policy toward Advisory Presence in Syria: Official
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A senior official at Iran’s foreign ministry categorically denied claims that the country’s ground troops have been deployed to Syria, saying that only military advisers from the Islamic Republic are in the war-stricken Arab country.
No change has been made to Iran’s cooperation with Syria and its “advisory presence” in the Arab country, the unnamed official said on Friday.
Such reports are part of a propaganda campaign by foreign media and officials to distort the field developments in Syria and undermine the advances of the Syrian army and popular forces against terrorist groups, the foreign ministry official noted.
In a report on Wednesday, Reuters quoted unnamed officials as saying that thousands of Iranian troops have arrived in Syria to take part in a ground offensive against insurgents around Aleppo.
Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with Takfiri terrorists from various groups, including the ISIL, currently controlling parts of it.
According to the United Nations, more than 240,000 people have been killed and one million wounded during the conflict.
In the meantime, Iran has remained a close ally of Syria and supports its legitimate government in the face of foreign-backed militancy.
Back in June, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hailed the resistance of the Syrian government and people against foreign-backed terrorist groups in the Arab country, saying that Tehran is determined to side with Damascus to the end of the crisis.