Iran Welcomes Syria Truce, Backs Every Decision that Contributes to Restoring Stability to Syria

TEHRAN, (ST)- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi has stressed that Iran supports every decision that contributes to restoring stability in Syria and it has always emphasized that a halt in fighting and a political solution constitute the only way out of the crisis in Syria.

In a statement on Sunday commenting on the Russian-US mediated truce agreement in Syria, Qassemi said “Iran always welcomes a ceasefire in Syria and the facilitation of the access of all the country’s people to humanitarian aid.”

 “Taking into account the experience of the past few months, the ceasefire should be sustainable and have implementation guarantees and should not be exploited as an opportunity for the reinforcement and delivery of arms and militants to terrorist groups,” he added.

The Iranian official also called on the international community “to confront the Takfiri extremist terrorism seriously, resolutely, unconditionally and relentlessly.”

The truce deal negotiated by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is set to enter into force on Monday, the first day of the Muslim holidays of Eid al-Adha.

Also on Sunday, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Jaberi Ansari reaffirmed Tehran’s positive outlook on the Syrian truce, saying that any agreement on and solution to the crisis in Syria should have humanitarian, security and political aspects.

Iran has always emphasized that the crisis in Syria has no military solution and should be settled through peaceful means, he added.

The US and Russian top diplomats John Kerry and Sergey Lavrov announced late Friday that they reached a new agreement on Syria following 14-hour talks in Geneva. The agreement provided for a truce for 48 hours starting by the sundown of  September 12. It also provided for separating between the terrorists and the so-called “opposition”, for specifying the areas in which Russian and American warplanes will target terrorists, for establishing a joint center to coordinate airstrikes and for resuming the political process to solve the crisis in Syria.

Hamda Mustafa