Head of the Strategic Research Center of Iran's Expediency Council Ali Akbar Velayati censured certain Western and regional countries for their double standards on terrorism, describing their classification of terrorists into two groups of "moderates" and "extremists" as absurd.
Some Western states, like the US, and reactionary governments in the Middle East region have categorized terrorist groups as extremists and moderates, "which is very ridiculous," Velayati said in a Sunday meeting with Russian Ambassador to Tehran Levan Dzhagaryan.
"From any viewpoint, terrorists are terrorists and there is no difference among them," he added.
Velayati went on to say that such classification is just a "pretext" for a specious fight against a terrorist group while supporting other extremist and terrorist groups in the region.
"We believe that in addition to ISIL, which is backed by Israel, the US and certain regional countries, any type of extremism and all kinds of terrorist groups should be confronted," he noted.
The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as a Takfiri group in Iraq and Syria, is among those believed to be supported by the West and some regional Arab countries.
It claims as an independent state the territory of Iraq and Syria, with implied future claims intended over more of the Levant, including Lebanon, occupied Palestine, Jordan, Cyprus, and Southern Turkey.
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