MIDEAST-CRISIS/ZARIF-RUSSIA Iran's Zarif warns 'outside actors' trying to use rise of IS for personal interest

Record ID: 150118

  • Title: MIDEAST-CRISIS/ZARIF-RUSSIA Iran's Zarif warns 'outside actors' trying to use rise of IS for personal interest
  • Date: 4th June 2015
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (JUNE 4, 2015) (REUTERS) MEETING OF SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISATION (SCO) COUNCIL OF MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS UNDERWAY IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF LISTENING FOREIGN MINISTERS AT MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (English) IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF, SAYING: "What is more dangerous is the illusion of certain regional and outside
  • Embargoed: 19th June 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVABBLGWIZ8DXPANYQCHAKY4Q7Q6
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday (June 4) blamed the rise of violent extremists in the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus on outsiders and regional players operating for personal interest.
    Zarif made the comments in Moscow at a conference on security issues in member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
    "What is more dangerous is the illusion of certain regional and outside actors who assume they can use these groups to obtain their strategic goals. Without them these new terrorists would have never been able to make such advances," said Zarif.
    "Governments who seek to use these groups for short term political gains must be made to realise that the fire they are spreading will sooner or later engulf themselves," he added.
    Iran has previously blamed the rise of the Islamic State group and other militants on 'mistakes' of the West, suggesting solutions to stopping them must come from the Middle East.
    Zarif also accused outside players of being "instrumental" to the formation of the Sunni militant group in the Middle East.
    "We all hear about anti-IS (Islamic State) coalition, some of those who were instrumental in forming IS, unfortunately, are now claiming to fight it. Worse yet, they still have not broken contact with IS," he said.
    Zarif called for regional cooperation in confronting the threat of extremism.
    The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was formed in 2001 in Shanghai, China and its members include Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The group's main goals are to develop regional cooperation and ensure peace in the region.
    Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan hold the observer status in the SCO.
    The Iranian foreign minister also held a series of bilateral and trilateral talks with his counterparts from China, Russia, and Tajikistan on the sidelines of the summit.
    The meetings are expected to focus on Iran's nuclear talks which entered the final stage, as well as developments in Syria, Iraq Yemen and the fight against Islamic State militants.
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