TEHRAN - A senior foreign policy adviser to the Supreme Leader said on Saturday that any plan that runs contrary to the interests of the Syria people is not acceptable.

“Iran still supports the territorial integrity [of Syria], the legitimate Syrian government and the people’s right to determine their destiny,” Ali Akbar Velayati said during a meeting with Adnan Mahmoud, the Syrian ambassador to Tehran.

Pointing to the Syrian people and government’s resistance against the terrorist groups, Velayati said that “axis of resistance” has proven that “faith” can win against extremist and terrorist movements and resolve all problems.

“Certainly that the Islamic Republic of Iran supports Syria’s territorial integrity and independence and Bashar al-Assad’s legal government which has been elected by the people and any plan against the Syrian nation’s interests will not be accepted,” the veteran politician noted.

He described the April 13 parliamentary elections in Syria as an “important move” which demonstrated the Syrian government’s “power” and the people’s role in determining their destiny.

Velayati also said that the U.S. and some other countries that support the terrorists seek to form a puppet government in Syria but they will not succeed.

He also said that Iran has “advisory” presence in Syria and this has come upon a request by the “legal” and “legitimate” government of Syria.

For his part, the Syria ambassador thanked Iran for its supports.

The Syrian government is making efforts to reach an agreement with the opposition groups that would meet the people’s interests after five years of resistance against foreign backed militants, Ambassador Mahmoud said.

He added that initiatives presented by the terrorists and the opposition groups are very similar to the Zionist regime of Israel’s.

He expressed regret over the fact that some Arab countries which provide help to the terrorists do not adopt any position against the Zionist regime’s actions.

According to ghanaweb.com, the UN special envoy for Syria has estimated that 400,000 people have been killed during the last five years of war in Syria.

Explaining that the death toll was based on his own estimate, Staffan de Mistura said on Friday that it was not an official UN statistic.

"We had 250,000 as a figure two years ago," said de Mistura. "Well, two years ago was two years ago."

According to Press TV, Syria's chief negotiator in peace talks plans to resume talks with the UN special envoy early next week.

Bashar al-Ja’afari, who also serves as Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, made the remarks at a news conference after the government delegation's meeting with de Mistura on Friday.

"We agreed with the special envoy that we meet once again on Monday at 11 o'clock, and devote the session to discuss our modifications on the paper submitted by the special envoy," he said.

NA/PA