Syria victorious in mini-world war: Iran official

The Syrian people have so far been triumphant in the “mini-world war” waged by foreign parties in their country, a senior adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, says.

“Although a lot of damage has been inflicted on Syria, this country stood up against these serious acts of aggression which constitute a mini-world war and emerged victorious,” Ali Akbar Velayati said in a Tuesday meeting with Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al-Mekdad in Tehran.

He expressed confidence that the Syrian government and nation would achieve a final victory against enemies with the support of their allies including Iran, Russia, Iraq, Lebanon’s resistance movement Hezbollah and some Arab countries.

He emphasized that Iran and Syria have always been in a united front against enemies and have been deepening their relations.

Velayati said the region could have faced a different situation had Iran, Syria, Iraq and Hezbollah failed to cooperate with each other.

He added that enemies have failed in their objective to annihilate Syria both at regional and international levels.

The Velayati-Mekdad meeting comes as a new round of UN-mediated peace talks between the Syrian government and foreign-backed opposition groups started on Monday. Negotiations are expected to end by March 24.

Damascus wants the negotiations to result in the establishment of a "unity government" followed by appointment of a committee to either write a new constitution or make changes to the current one.

Iran likewise says the decision on Assad’s fate is up to the Syrian people and supports the Syrian army and its allies in their fight against foreign-backed militants.

The last round of UN-sponsored peace negotiations fell apart early in February after the Saudi-backed so-called opposition, known as the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), left the talks amid the Syrian army’s Russia-backed gains against militants on several fronts.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. According to a February report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the conflict has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people, injured 1.9 million others, and displaced nearly half of the country’s pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.

Saudi Arabia and Turkey have widely been blamed for the surge in the deadly militancy in Syria as they have been supporting militants with funds, training and weapons.

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