March 1, The Iran Project � Head of Russia�s Geopolitical studies academy stresses Iran�s important role in the Middle East, particularly the fight against terrorism, saying but the US and its allies� counter-terrorism approaches are not real.

General Leonid Ivashov said regional problems, especially the crises in Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, cannot be solved without the active participation of Iran, emphasizing that US and the West cannot remove Tehran from regional partnerships.

Referring to the efforts of some regional countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, for excluding Iran from the process of solving regional issues, Ivashov pointed out that such measures have recently paved the way for the creation and development of terrorist groups, like ISIS.

He went on to say that while US is apparently fighting against terrorism, the country and its Western and Arabic allies played a significant role in creating and organizing�terrorist groups.

As long as America and its Western allies are present in the Middle East and their regional allies, including Qatar and Saudi Arabia, are implementing Western policies, terrorists continue to be a�threat for the regional peace and security, Russian expert emphasized.

He also noted that terrorist groups are destroyed only when all regional and trans-regional powers cooperate, and Iran can play an important role in this regard.