Velayati Calls for Withdrawal of Foreign Forces from West Asia

Senior adviser to Iran’s Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ali Akbar Velayati has called for the withdrawal of foreign military forces from West Asia, arguing that their presence is a major source of insecurity and instability in the region. In a post on X on Saturday, Velayati said recent developments had strengthened the belief that foreign forces should leave the region, citing what he described as the defeat of the United States and Israel.

Velayati attributed the latest developments to the resistance of Iran’s armed forces, the resilience of the Iranian people and the actions of what Tehran calls the resistance axis. He said regional countries possess the capacity to protect their own security without depending on foreign powers or their military forces, urging greater regional coordination and cooperation to establish a sustainable security framework.

Iran has long maintained that West Asian security should be managed by regional states themselves and that the presence of foreign troops contributes to instability. Velayati’s remarks follow Iranian retaliatory strikes against US military positions and assets across the Persian Gulf region. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian Army carried out the strikes under Operation Nasr-2, in response to what Tehran described as continued US attacks and violations of an interim ceasefire agreement.