Tasnim � Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi reiterated Tehran�s policy of providing support for Damascus in the fight against terrorism and said the Islamic Republic�s advisory mission in Syria will continue as long as the Arab country�s government wants it.


Speaking to reporters in Tehran on Monday, Qassemi pointed to recent reports about Russia�s call for the withdrawal of all foreign military forces from Syria and said, �No one can force Iran to do anything.�

�As long as terrorism exists and the Syrian government wants, Iran will have presence (in the Arab country),� he stressed.

�Those who have entered Syria without the consent of the Syrian government should leave,� the spokesman added.

In comments published Friday, Russian presidential envoy to Syria Alexander Lavrentiev confirmed that President Vladimir Putin�s remarks on the need to withdraw foreign troops from Syria had implied Iranian forces and Hezbollah fighters as well as Turkish and American troops.

On the heels of a meeting between Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Russian resort of Sochi on Thursday, Lavrentiev added, �This statement involves all foreign troops in Syria including the Turkish, American, Iranian and Hezbollah.�

Lavrentiev stressed that Putin�s statement on this issue represents a �political message�, but added �not to view it as the beginning of a withdrawal process of foreign troops from Syria.�

Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with various terrorist groups, including Daesh (ISIS or ISIL), fighting against its central government.

In the meantime, Iran has remained a close ally of Syria and supported its legitimate government in the face of foreign-backed militancy.