FILE PHOTO: Ali Akbar Velayati, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's top adviser on international affairs, smiles as he listens to questions from the media during a news conference after meeting with Lebanon's Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the government palace in Beirut May 18, 2015. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Friday that Tehran coordinates positions on its military presence in Syria with Moscow and Damascus.

He made his comments at a conference in Moscow, in response to a question about whether Iran might withdraw its forces from Syria’s southern border region, near Israel.

Velayati also said that U.S. sanctions against Iran could raise oil prices and harm oil consumers.