UNITED NATIONS (Dispatches) -- Iran’s permanent ambassador to the United Nations has says the illegal presence of foreign forces in Syria facilitates terrorist activities across the Arab country.
“Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity continue to be significantly violated by the unlawful presence of foreign forces, including those of the United States,” Majid Takht Ravanchi told a UN Security Council session on Syria.
“The illegal presence of foreign forces in parts of Syria, which has provided favorable conditions for terrorist activities in Syria, must end immediately,” he added.
Takht Ravanchi drew attention to “the free movement of terrorist groups, including ISIS (Daesh), in Syria’s territory where foreign forces are illegally present, as well as their transfer to other countries,” noting how this “endangers regional and international peace and security.”
The ambassador also condemned the occupying regime of Israel’s airstrikes in Syria, saying they have recently been “targeting civilians and civilian infrastructures”.
Syria’s permanent representative to the UN also lashed out at the U.S. and the EU for hampering the Syrian government’s efforts to improve humanitarian situation in the Arab country, saying the nation continues to suffer under the West’s illegal measures.
“The suffering of the Syrian people continues as a result of the practices of Western countries whose interests and agendas have prevailed over the lives of Syrians and the security and stability of the region,” Bassam al-Sabbagh said.
“Improving the humanitarian situation requires lifting illegitimate coercive measures, ending foreign occupation of Syrian lands, and halting support for terrorist organizations and separatist militias.”
The government, he said, is trying to rebuild what terrorism has destroyed in Syria, return the country to the path of sustainable development and ensure the return of the displaced to their homeland.
However, he added, such endeavors are being met with major obstacles due to the wrong policies adopted by the Western states and their blatant violations of international law and the UN Charter.
“The unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States and the European Union have impacted the banking, energy and communication sectors, as well as those of land, sea, air and maritime transportation. They have also impacted the work of the United Nations and other international organizations operating in Syria,” the ambassador noted.
The United States has deployed forces and military equipment in Syria without any authorization from Damascus or the UN. It has long been training militants and stealing Syria’s oil and wheat, ignoring repeated calls by Damascus to end its occupation of the country.
Sabbagh estimated that Syria used to produce 2.5 million tons of wheat before the war, but now it has to import 1.5 million tons instead because the American forces and its allied militants have taken control of the country’s wheat production.
Syria is deficient in electricity generation because the U.S. occupation forces are looting oil and gas, he said. The medical services sector, along with the pharmaceutical industry, is experiencing the repercussions of an embargo that deprives Syrians of their right to health care, he added.
The Syrian envoy further criticized Turkey for violating the bilateral agreements governing the water of the Euphrates River and hindering the passage of Syria-bound humanitarian aid.
“The current political approach must be changed and talks should be undertaken to achieve the interests of the Syrian people and to end the Turkish, American and Israeli occupation of Syrian territories,” he said.
Sabbagh also expressed Damascus’s commitment to a political solution based on an intra-Syrian dialogue that respects the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.