Iran FM urges political solution to Syria crisis

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has reaffirmed the Islamic Republic’s logical and transparent stance on Syria, calling for diplomacy as the only way of resolving the crisis in the Arab country.

The Syrian people must decide their own fate and nobody should impose their will on Syrians, Zarif said in a meeting with Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Wednesday.

Other countries, the Iranian foreign minister stated, can only facilitate the political process to end the crisis in Syria.

Zarif said the recent international meeting on the conflict in Syria, which was held in Vienna, Austria, was a good move in the path of finding a political approach to the crisis.

On October 30, top diplomats from 17 countries, including Iran, as well as envoys from the United Nations and the European Union, gathered in the Austrian capital. It was the first time that the Islamic Republic attended such negotiations on Syria.

The participants agreed on respecting Syria’s national unity and sovereignty as well as eradicating terrorist groups operating in the Arab country. However, they remained at loggerheads over the role President Bashar al-Assad would play in Syria’s political process.

Mekdad, for his part, commended Iran’s support for the Syrian government and nation.

The Syrian official arrived in Tehran on Tuesday to hold talks with senior Iranian officials about the latest developments in his country.

Situation improving in Syria: Larijani

Mekdad was also welcomed by Iran’s Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani on Wednesday.

The Iranian parliament speaker said Syria is experiencing a better situation now.

The Syrian official said the US and its allies are engaged in a war against the legal government in Syria and not terrorism, adding that Washington is not after resolving the issues the government in Damascus faces.

‘Iran will not cooperate with US on any issue’

The Syrian official also met with Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

Velayati said Iran does not and will never cooperate with the US directly or indirectly.

“Iran has no cooperation with US forces either in political fields or any other areas,” Velayati told reporters following the meeting with Mekdad.

Commenting on a proposal on the establishment of a transitional government in Syria, the Iranian official said the Islamic Republic “does not offer any solution which is not accepted by the Syrian government and nation.”

He emphasized that other countries have no right to make decisions for the Syrian people.

Velayati reiterated that Iran will not accept any initiative or solution regarding the crisis without consultation with the Syrians.

Mekdad on Tuesday expressed his country’s opposition to the idea of a “transitional period” in Syria, saying the Syrian government opposes a political transition sought by Western countries to end the conflict in his country.

“We are talking about a national dialog in Syria and a broad-based government as well as a constitutional process. There is no [talk of a] transitional period in Syria,” the Syrian official said.

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