The government in Damascus has rejected the final statement of the Arab emergency summit held in Saudi Arabia, which criticizes what it called “Iranian intervention” into Syrian affairs, AP reports.

Damascus said the statement was an unacceptable interference in the internal affairs of Syria.

The Iranian presence is “legitimate because it came at the request of the Syrian government and contributed to support Syria’s efforts in combating terrorism supported by some of the participants in this summit,” according to the Syrian Foreign Ministry.

The summit should instead condemn the involvement of other countries in Syrian affairs, “which lacked legitimacy and legality” and provided “unlimited support in various forms to terrorist groups and prolonging the crisis in Syria,” the statement added.