Iran's policy of supporting Syria unchanged: Amir-Abdollahian
A senior Iranian official says the Islamic Republic has not changed its policy in Syria as a fresh round of international talks is set to start to find a solution to the Syria crisis.
“There has been no change in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s supportive policies on Syria,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran's deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, said on Thursday.
The remarks came one day ahead of talks planned to be held in Vienna. Some of the participants in the negotiations, namely the US and its allies, have repeatedly called for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is leading a delegation to a Friday meeting on Syria in the Austrian capital, a first such presence since the conflict began in Syria in March 2011.
"Those who intend to cross Mr Bashar Assad must know quite well that within the framework of political process, only the Syrian people decide about their future," said Amir-Abdollahian,.
He said Tehran has always supported a political process and the fight against terrorism in Syria, adding that the Vienna meeting would be an opportunity for boosting these two initiatives and to reach a realistic understanding of the situation in Syria and the entire Middle East region.
Two earlier rounds of talks, held without the participation of Iran, had ended inconclusively. Friday's talks will see Zarif join representatives from US, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the European Union.
Since 2011, Syria has been gripped by a militancy it blames on some foreign governments. The conflict has claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people, according to the estimates by the United Nations.
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