Tehran, Nov 25, IRAN -- Head of Expediency Council's Strategic Research Center Ali Akbar Velayati on Wednesday cautioned against escalation of tension in the sensitive Middle East region.
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Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of his visit with Luxemburg foreign minister, he said Iran advised both Russia and Turkey which are close neighbors to maintain calmness and expect such incident never be repeated again.

Russia is now in Syria at the official invitation of Syrian government to fight with terrorism and therefore, its presence in the country is quite legal under the International Law, Velayati said.

All countries in the region such as Russia and Turkey should help prevent reoccurrence of such incidents, he said.

We do emphasize that such tensions should be eased or avoided in the region, Velayati said.

The struggle between Russia and Turkey has nothing to do with fight with terrorist groups who fight with Syrian government for about five years and have killed tens of thousands of innocent people and have displaced over 10 million Syrian population, he said.

Fight against terrorists and terrorism inside Syria will continue by Syrian government and nation by Syrian allies such as Russia, he said.

We hope such incident (shotdown of Russian fighter plane by Turkey) never happens again, he said.

There is no doubt that Iran will continue its support through international organiazations such as Red Crescent and Red Cross to displaced Syrian people the same as Iran did for the Yemeni people, he said.

In the past Iran hosted huge number of Iraqi refugees with hospitality, Velayati said.

No country in the world has treated the displaced Afghan and Iraqi people like Iran with such sincerity and kindness, he said.

By IRNA