Syria calls for illegal presence to leave

DAMASCUS－Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Saturday stressed the need to end the presence of "illegal foreign powers" on Syrian soil, according to state news agency SANA.

Referring to the United States and Turkish forces, Assad made the remarks during a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian. The war on terror will continue until all Syrian areas are liberated, he said.

Assad and Abdollahian also discussed strategic relations between the two countries and the joint effort required to put forward plans to boost cooperation in all fields.

The president's comments came just days after Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad stressed that the Syrian army will be heading to northwestern Syria where Turkish-backed rebels are located and to northeastern areas where US-backed Kurdish militia groups are positioned to restore these areas.

The Syrian government has recently called for the need to liberate what is left in rebel-held areas in northern Syria, urging foreign powers that entered Syrian territories without the consent of the government to leave.

During the decadelong war in Syria, Iran has emerged as a key regional ally, helping the Assad administration to restore key areas and providing economic assistance.

Upon arriving in Damascus earlier on Saturday, Abdollahian said Syria and Iran have reached "important agreements" on achieving comprehensive development in relations in all fields over the past few weeks.

Both sides are putting forward intensive programs to implement cooperation in areas such as the economy, trade and tourism, he said.

Before his Damascus visit, Abdollahian visited Russia and Lebanon and held talks with Russian and Lebanese officials on various international and bilateral issues.

Mekdad said he and Abdollahian will discuss the outcome of the latter's visits to Russia and Lebanon.

The Iranian official's visit comes at a time when the Syrian government is sensing a change in the international climate toward Syria.

In a recent televised interview with Syrian national television, Mekdad said that there is a change in the international political atmosphere toward the Syrian issue, noting that dozens of countries wanted to meet with the Syrian government delegation during recent United Nations General Assembly meetings.

Xinhua