Iran Cautions against Doha Meeting’s Repercussions

Iran on Tuesday warned the participants in the so-called ‘Friends of Syria’ meeting in Doha that their decision to send arms to the “rebels” in Syria would further deteriorate the crisis in the country, according to FNA.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Araqchi made the remarks in Tehran on Tuesday when asked by reporters about Iran’s position on the Geneva II conference on Syria due to be co-hosted by the US and Russia in Switzerland.

Araqchi welcomed any political discussion in pursuit of a peaceful settlement of the crisis in Syria, but said there are some obstacles to the success of the Geneva II conference, including the decisions made in the recent ‘Friends of Syria’ meeting in Doha to further arm the rebel groups in Syria.

“Certain attempts are made alongside this idea (of holding the Geneva II conference) which run counter to the goals pursued by the Geneva meeting, including the recent meetings which were held and the efforts which were made to arm the “dissident groups” and these (moves) would provoke tension and conflict in Syria,” he added.

“We are surprised that those who claim to be advocates of a peaceful settlement of the issue (in Syria) move towards arming the Takfiri and “dissident groups”,” Araqchi underlined.

The foreign ministers of the so-called ‘Friends of Syria’ countries held a meeting in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday to discuss the volume and recipients of arms supplies to the rebels in Syria. The US and other western states allege that they intend to funnel arms into the hands of the Free Syrian Army to avoid equipment of terrorist groups with advanced weapons.

But, diplomatic sources present at the meeting told FNA on Sunday that both the ‘FSA’ and the al-Nusrah Front had sent separate letters to the meeting to warn the participants about the destination of the arms supplies.

“The commander of the al-Nusrah Front in a letter to the Doha conference called on the countries which took part in the meeting to supply the group with 50% of the weapons decided to be sent to the rebel groups in Syria,” a diplomat present at the meeting said on the condition of anonymity for fear of his life.

According to the diplomat the letter warned the participants that “they should wait for dire consequences if they refrain from complying with the al-Nusrah request”.

“Also, the ringleader of the ‘Free Syrian Army’ Salim Idriss in a separate letter to the conference demanded that FSA be the only recipient of any future arms supplies to be sent by the participants to Syria,” added the diplomat.

M.D