President Bashar al-Assad says Syrians are determined to liberate the whole country from the clutches of foreign-sponsored Takfiri terrorists, amid a full-scale offensive by the army in the northwestern province of Idlib, the last militant bastion in a nine-year war.

Assad made the comment during a meeting with Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani and his accompanying delegation in the capital Damascus on Sunday.
Governments hostile to the Syrian nation, Assad said, are still trying to support terrorists who have taken civilians hostage and use them as human shields against advancing troops in Idlib.
The Syrian president said things cannot remain in the current state at the expense of Syrian lives and Syria's security and stability.
Larijani, for his part, affirmed the Islamic Republic’s continued support for the Syrian government in its fight against terror.
He also congratulated the Syrian president for the significant gains the government troops have made against terrorists in Idlib, saying he deeply believed that Syrians were fully capable of liberating their entire land and restore Syria’s status in the region.
The pair also discussed regional and international developments in light of the policy of spreading chaos and destabilization pursued by some Western countries, led by the United States.
Both sides also agreed on the necessity of taking joint action to raise the number of countries against such policies and cooperate with them in order to prevent more wars around the world.

Syria a key country in axis of resistance: Larijani
Earlier on Sunday and shortly after arriving in Damascus, Larijani met with his Syrian counterpart, Hammoudeh Sabbagh.
During the meeting, the top Iranian official said Syria was a key state in the axis of resistance and underlined the importance of bilateral ties.
“We will hold important consultations on issues of interest to Syrians under the current circumstances, in addition to discussing ways to develop bilateral relations,” Larijani said.
Sabbagh, for his part, said Syria and Iran had common ties, on top of which, fighting terrorism, conspiracy and sanctions, which are facing both countries.
He also stressed that the victories gained daily by the Syrian Arab Army on the ground are clear evidence on “the absolute victory of the strong will” in the face of all of these conspiratorial projects.

Idlib and small parts of the adjacent area in Aleppo form the only large territory in the hands of terrorists after the Syrian military managed to undo militant gains across the country and bring back almost all of the Syrian soil under government control.
The Syrian army has been making steady advances in the past few weeks, liberating a strategic city and a key highway which connects Damascus to Aleppo. 
Idlib is now held by an array of terrorists dominated by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) Takfiri group, which is led by members of the former al-Qaeda franchise.