All Foreign Troops Illegally Present in Syria Must Leave: Iran

“Sovereignty, political independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria must be fully respected by all, and accordingly, all foreign forces whose presence is not permitted by the Syrian Government must leave the Syrian territory. In this regard, the living example is the occupation of certain parts of Syria by the US forces who continue to support and shield terrorist groups under the mask of combatting terrorism,” Majid Takht-Ravanchi said addressing a virtual meeting of United Nations Security Council dubbed “Middle East: Syria – Political”.

Following is the full text of his remarks:

"In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

Mr. President,

I thank you for organizing this meeting. I also thank SRSG Pederson for the input.

I reiterate our longstanding position that the Syrian crisis must be settled through political means.

In this context, we extend our support to the work of the Constitutional Committee, as has been expressed by the Astana Format meetings on numerous occasions.

While the Committee should be supported to do its work, as a matter of principle, any and all forms of external pressure must be avoided by all, as stipulated in its rules of procedure.

At the same time, any possible assistance to the Committee, even by the United Nations, must be extended only at the request of the Committee itself in accordance with its ROP.

As a principled position, which also has been repeatedly reaffirmed by the Astana Format Summits, we continue to reject any separatist agendas as well as any and all attempts to create new realities on the ground, including through illegitimate self-rule initiatives.

Sovereignty, political independence, unity and territorial integrity of Syria must be fully respected by all, and accordingly, all foreign forces whose presence is not permitted by the Syrian Government must leave the Syrian territory. In this regard, the living example is the occupation of certain parts of Syria by the US forces who continue to support and shield terrorist groups under the mask of combatting terrorism.

Similarly, Israel’s acts of aggression against Syria are in gross violation of international law and the UN Charter, in the face of which, the Syrian Government has a sovereign right to decide how and when to exercise its inherent right to individual or collective self-defense. Such acts of aggression must come to an end.

We also stress that the occupation of the Syrian Occupied Golan by Israel is illegal, and the recognition by the US of its annexation to Israel is null and void. Condemning such an unlawful irresponsible act, we stress that Golan is and will remain a part and parcel of the Syrian territory.

Finally, the right to determine the future of Syria belongs exclusively to Syrians and the international community should assist them to realize this right.

I thank you, Mr. President."