Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif enter a hall during a meeting in Moscow on April 28, 2018. (AFP) Updated 13 July 2018 Reuters July 13, 2018 08:34 719 MOSCOW: 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 US sanctions against Iran could raise oil prices and harm oil consumers. Meanwhile, a top aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday that Iran would immediately withdraw its "military advisers" from Syria and Iraq only if their governments wanted it to. "Iran and Russia"s presence in Syria will continue to protect the country against terrorist groups and America"s aggression ... We will immediately leave if Iraqi and Syrian governments want it, not because of Israel and America"s pressure," said Ali Akbar Velayati in a conference in Moscow. Iran and Russia back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country"s civil war.