Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 14
By Khalid Kazimov – Trend:
A senior Iranian official has said the Syrian city of Aleppo was “liberated” as a result of the formation of a military coalition between Iran, Russia, Syria and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, adding that the Iraqi city of Mosul will also be recaptured soon.
“Coalition between Iran, Russia, Syria and Lebanon’s Hezbollah led to the liberation of Aleppo and we will soon liberate Mosul as well,” ISNA news agency quoted Major General Yahya Safavi, a senior advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as saying at a conference in Tehran.
He added that the Americans nowadays realize that Iran is the “first power in the region.”
“The US president-elect [Donald Trump] also needs to consider Iran’s power,” he added.
Syrian army backed by Russian air strikes alongside with other allies has recently launched a massive assault to recapture the militant-held areas of the northern city of Aleppo.
Rebels took control of eastern parts of Aleppo in 2012. The latest media reports suggest that Syrian army has advanced through the rebel-held areas, though the rebels reportedly continued to resist in some parts of the city.
In the meantime, Iraqi government forces have launched an offensive to retake the control over Mosul, the last stronghold of the “Islamic State” (IS) terrorist group in Iraq.