Iranian president calls for reforms in Syria

By Mustafa Melih Ahiskali

TEHRAN

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday called for reforms in Syria, which has been ravaged by civil war since 2011.

Speaking at a press conference in capital Tehran, Rouhani called on the West to halt support to what he described as “terrorist organizations”.

"The West must stop supporting terrorists and the Syrian state needs reforming as well,” he said in response to a question about whether Tehran would change its policy on Syria.

Shia Iran is a staunch supporter of the Bashar al-Assad regime, which has been fighting opposition groups since the eruption of anti-regime demonstrations in Syria in early 2011.

For the past five years, Iranian soldiers, along with members of Lebanon’s Shia Hezbollah group, have been fighting alongside regime forces in Syria.

Last week, scores of civilians were killed and hundreds injured in a chemical attack by regime forces in northern Syria.

The U.S. struck a Syrian regime military airbase near Damascus in response to the chemical attack.

Rouhani, who plans to run for re-election in the May polls, described the U.S. strike as a “mistake”.

“It was the first time such incident happened. Repeating it might lead to dangerous consequences,” he warned.

Asked about his country’s relations with Saudi Arabia, Rouhani accused Riyadh of working against Tehran due to “its losses in Syria and Yemen”.

*Ali Murat Alhas contributed to this report from Ankara