TEHRAN - Ali Khorram, a senior analyst and former Iranian ambassador to UN bodies in Vienna, has said that the U.S. seeks to lessen Iran’s role in Syria.

In an interview with ISNA published on Saturday, Khorram said, “It seems that Syria has turned into a place for U.S.-Russia confrontation and the U.S. seeks to stay in Syria.”

He added, “They [the U.S.] make efforts to prevent the Bashar al-Assad government from gaining strength and also undermine Syria’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity; however, stopping Russia’s actions is another objective of them.”

Commenting on a resolution adopted by the UN Security Council demanding a 30-day truce across Syria, he said, “In fact, the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia coalition were trying to ask for the truce so that the terrorist groups would recover.”

He noted that the terrorist groups should leave east of Damascus and the Syrian government should promote its sovereignty over the capital city and its suburbs so that terrorists would not be able to launch mortars at Damascus. 

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution on February 24, demanding a 30-day truce across Syria.

The resolution does not cover militants from Islamic State, al-Qaeda, and the Nusra Front.

Major General Mohammad Baqeri, chief of the Iranian armed forces, said on February 25 that the whole territory of Syria should be cleansed of terrorists in future months.

NA/PA