Tehran, March 16, The Iran Project - Iran's top security official has said that the withdrawal of Russian military personnel and planes from Syria was preplanned.

Speaking to a reporter on Wednesday, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani said the withdrawal of Russian military personnel and planes from Syria was planned in advance and it was based on due coordination.

Saying that counter-terrorism measures have not been stopped, Shamkhani stressed that Iran and Russia will continue their advisory assistance to Syrian army to advance in areas where terrorist groups still threaten the security of the people and region.

The SNSC secretary noted that Syria’s future will only be determined bay its nation and any plan that ignores this important issue is doomed to fail.

Weakening Syria was at first a US-Israeli plan to weaken the resistance in this region, he added.

He finally said that the countries that are trying to set aside the forces fighting against terrorists, especially Hezbollah and al-Hashd al-Shaabi, and make Takfiri terrorists their ally must be accountable to the history and nation’s conscience.

Earlier on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that "the main part" of the Russian forces would start to withdraw from Syria, and that diplomats had been called upon to increase their efforts for a peaceful solution to the five-year-long conflict.

Russia started its military campaign in Syria on September 30, 2015, based on a request from the Syrian government.

The airstrikes have greatly boosted the morale of the Syrian army as it has managed to retake key areas from militants across the country with Russian support.