Foreign forces presence in Mideast brings terrorism: Iran

TEHRAN: Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says the "illegitimate" presence of foreign forces in the region has brought about nothing but terrorism and insecurity.

Speaking at the fourth meeting of the foreign ministers of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) on Wednesday, Salehi said that the prolonged military presence of foreign forces in the region under the pretext of restoring peace and security has only endangered peace and stability.

"The illegitimate presence of foreign forces in the region has only brought about hatred and violence and has encouraged terrorism and extremism," he added.

Regarding the situation in Syria, Salehi called on peace-seeking regional countries to join hands with the friends of Syria to pave the way for purposeful talks between the Syrian government and the opposition to find a mutually acceptable solution aimed at restoring peace and security and ending violence.

Shifting to the issue of nuclear arms, Salehi said that storing and modernizing nuclear arms poses a serious threat to human societies and underlined the need for the countries possessing such weapons to show their commitment to the Article Six of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in destroying all their weapons of mass destruction by a set deadline.

He said the countries' right to develop peaceful nuclear technology needs to be respected, adding that any attack or the threat of a strike against peaceful nuclear facilities is a grave violation of international law, the UN Charter and the regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The top Iranian diplomat also called for international cooperation as the best way to fight weapons of mass destruction especially nuclear weapons, as well as drugs trafficking, organized crimes, poverty, violence and terrorism.

He also called for further interaction among CICA members in various fields.

The Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) is a multinational forum for enhancing cooperation towards promoting peace, security and stability in Asia.

CICA has twenty four member states. Eight countries and three multinational organizations have observer status. (Monitoring Desk)