Airstrikes not enough to eradicate terrorism: Iranian president

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said that the idea of eradicating terrorism by airstrikes is "naive" and it does not suffice to eliminate terrorists, the Tehran Times reported Saturday.

Without the participation of regional states, air assaults will not resolve the terrorism problem in the Middle East region, Rouhani told the 14th Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit meeting which kicked off in the Tajik capital Dushanbe Friday.

"Fighting terrorism needs organised planning, bilateral and multilateral cooperation and elimination of economic and cultural poverty," the president stated.

He also called on regional countries to use their potential to combat terrorism, saying airstrikes alone were not enough to contain terrorism.

Last month, US President Barack Obama authorised the use of targeted airstrikes to prevent the advance of Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq and to protect American personnel and interests inside the country.

Obama said that the air raids could go on for months.

The Pentagon announced that the US already has conducted 154 airstrikes against IS targets in Iraq.

Rouhani referred to his own proposal known as "World Against Violence and Extremism (WAVE)", and hailed the deepening of world understanding towards the menace of extremism.

Resolution of the issue of terrorism requires an international commitment, the president asserted.

Rouhani also urged a peaceful co-existence of followers of various religions and warned advocates of terrorists about the consequences of their policies.