Turkey's shooting down of the Russian plane contradicts the interests of the Middle East, which depends on an alliance between Russia, Syria and Iran for stability, advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Akbar Velayati told Lebanese television.
Velayate noted that Iran wants to stop the escalation. Velayati was Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1991 to 1997 and currently heads the country's Center for Strategic Research as part of the Ayatollah-appointed Expediency Discernment Council. He assumed the position in 2013, after the person previously occupying it, Hassan Rouhani, became Iran's President.
"The attack on the Russian plane is not in the region's interests. We want to stop the escalation…The region's future depends on an alliance between Russia, Syria and Iran, and we hope that it leads to peace," Velayati told Lebanon's al-Mayadeen Television.
On November 24, a Russian Su-24 combat aircraft crashed in Syria while carrying out precision airstrikes against terrorist targets. Moscow has said it was downed by an air-to-air missile, fired from a Turkish F-16 fighter in response to what Turkey alleged was a violation of its airspace.
