Iran Renews Emphasis on Finding Political Solution to Crisis in Syria

TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi stressed the necessity of an immediate halt the ongoing bloodsheds in Syria, and renewed Tehran’s call for finding a political solution to the crisis in Syria and avoiding military intervention by foreign countries.

Addressing the conference, Salehi said Iran has always been part of the solution to the regional crises, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon, and played a “constructive and positive” role in restoring tranquility and security in the region, according toFNA.

As regards the crisis in Syria, Salehi said Iran has spared no effort to restore tranquility and stability in the country.

Salehi said the consultative meeting on Syria held in the Iranian capital last summer, the Tehran conference for national dialogue in Syria, Iran’s support for both the peace plan presented by former UN envoy on Syria Kofi Annan and the ongoing efforts made by the current UN-AL envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, Tehran’s support for Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi’s plan for the establishment of a quadrilateral Contact Group on Syria and Iran’s 6-paragraph initiative for peace in Syria were part of Tehran’s efforts to end the crisis in that country.

He further reiterated the need for finding a negotiated solution to the crisis, and stated, “What is important is working out a regional and international understanding to go past the current crisis in Syria through a political solution based on dialogue instead of a military solution.”

Salehi said that the international community should reject violence and focus on the immediate cessation of hostilities and block arms shipment to the terrorists in Syria.

Earlier, the international ‘Friends of Syria’ conference started work here in Tehran on Wednesday afternoon to find a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis in the country.

Over 40 high-ranking officials and representatives of different world countries and regional and international organizations are attending the one-day meeting which is being held with the motto of ‘Political Solution, Regional Stability’.

Iran has invited different regional and international actors to the conference, the foreign ministry announced last week.

“Representatives of Russia and China will be present in the meeting and Tehran has invited different states, including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which hold different positions (from that of Iran on Syria) to attend the conference,” Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian said on Sunday.

Also, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Abbas Araqchi said in his weekly press conference in Tehran on Tuesday that Iran seeks to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria through cooperation with the countries and groups invited to the ‘Friends of Syria’ conference in Tehran on Wednesday.

“The main goal of the meeting is helping the idea of finding a political solution to (the crisis in) Syria,” Araqchi said.

“All countries as well as all the regional and international organizations which can help to (the implementation of) this solution have been invited (to the conference),” he said, expressing the hope that discussions at the Tehran conference could help both the Tehran and the Geneva meetings move towards success.

Noting that Iran expects participation of officials and representatives from 40 countries in the Friends of Syria conference in Tehran, Araqchi announced that a number of “special guests” have also been invited to the meeting.

M.D