MOSCOW. Oct 20 (Interfax) - The Syrian government is expected to retake control over Idlib, and Iranian advisors will help its military to do so, Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri said.
"Iran and Russia respect Syria's territorial integrity. The recent voting in Iran has once again demonstrated unity on this matter. We will continue helping Syria, and we exchanged views on this matter during yesterday's talks with my [Russian] counterpart, Gen. [Valery] Gerasimov," Bagheri said in an interview with the Rossiya 24 television channel, when asked about the situation in the Syrian province of Idlib.
"Thanks to our interaction, 80% of Syria's territory is now free from terrorists. Unfortunately, this number excludes Idlib. This situation is largely courtesy of the country's well-known neighbor, but this cannot go on forever... With the Syrian army being reinforced and terrorists being cut off from supplies from several countries, I think something positive is about to happen. And, as in the past, Russian aircraft will be in the sky and our military consultants will be on the ground to help the Syrian army," he said.