TEHRAN - Major General Mohammad Baqeri, chief of the Iranian armed forces, said on Sunday that foreign forces that are in Syria without a permission by the Damascus government should leave the country.

“As Iran has come to Syria upon official invitation of the Syrian government, other countries’ forces should be in Syria with coordination and permission of the Syrian government,” he said upon arrival in Damascus.

Baqeri is visiting Syria to attend the Iran-Iraq-Syria conference in order to study strategies in fighting terrorism.

“This issue (that foreign forces should leave Syria) will be discussed in the Iran-Iraq-Syria conference,” Baqeri said. 

He also condemned terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, saying the “catastrophic crime” was aimed at weakening Islam and in line with the Islamophobia project.

The perpetrators behind the attacks on Muslim worshippers in New Zealand have been influenced by the Islamophobia project led by the U.S. and Zionist regime of Israel, the top general noted.

Coordinated terrorist attacks on two mosques in Christchurch on Friday left 50 worshippers killed and many others wounded.

Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern described the incident as “an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence.”

Brenton Harris Tarrant, who attacked the worshippers, has praised Trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity”.

NA/PA