A senior Iranian official has underlined the need for global cooperation to tackle the conflicts gripping the Middle East, stressing that people in the region should determine their own future free from any foreign meddling.

Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on international affairs, made the remarks in a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis in Tehran on Wednesday.

“The sensitive Middle East region needs a type of global international partnership and protection to resolve important issues,” he said.

“Those who are not familiar with the sensitivity of the Middle East cause more damage to themselves than to the region,” Velayati added.

Several years of foreign interference have only worked to the detriment of the region, he said, noting that “everyone has now come to the conclusion that the solution to regional problems is political, not military, and that the region’s fate should be decided by the people and foreign meddling should be prevented.”

The Iranian official also warned that chaos in the Middle East affects the entire Europe, including Spain.

He further called for the enhancement of Tehran-Madrid ties and joint cooperation between the two sides aimed at bringing peace to the Western Asia region.

Dastis, for his part, said that he agreed with Velayati on the need to increase cooperation and contacts in order to provide security and stability to the region and the world.

He also said that the good relations between Iran and Spain need to be promoted.