TEHRAN, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday reaffirmed his country's support to the Syrian government, saying Iran will remain by the side of Syria in fighting terrorism.
Those groups in Syria which have resorted to arms against the Syrian government and its nation "are not dissidents but terrorists," Rouhani said during a meeting with visiting Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, on the sidelines of a two-day international conference, the World Against Extremism and Violence (WAVE), in Tehran on Tuesday.
Over the past months, the world public opinion has realized that militants in Syria have been "terrorists, and even those who created these groups have started to keep distance from them," Rouhani said.
The support of some countries to the militant groups in Syria has not been right policy and has resulted in the spread of violence and insecurity in the region, he added.
Also, the world has come to the understanding today that the Syrian government and its army are capable of confronting the terrorists and protecting the Arab state, Rouhani said, adding that this, more than ever, has made it necessary to think of a political solution to Syria's problems.
In his address to Tuesday's conference, Rouhani said one of the ways to tackle the issue of terrorism in the region is to block its funding means.
For his part, Moallem expressed his gratitude for Iran's supports to Syria, saying that "Iran and Syria are in the same front."
He also criticized the West for what he termed as their "support to terrorist groups" in Syria.
Moallem, who headed a delegation to attend the WAVE in Tehran, hailed Iran's initiative for holding this conference, saying that the world without violence and extremism is the ideal of today's world.
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