Iran must be part of Syria solution: Australia opposition

Australia’s main opposition party says political dialogue is the only way out of the deadly conflict in Syria, adding that all important players, including Iran and Russia, should be part of any solution to the crisis.

“There’s Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the US and its allies that all need to come to the table as part of developing a solution for Syria,” Tanya Plibersek, the deputy leader of Australia’s Labor Party, said on Thursday.

She stated that the airstrikes carried out by the so-called anti-Daesh coalition led by the US will fail to solve the deadly conflict in the war-ridden Arab country.

 Plibersek further called for humanitarian assistance to millions of people who have been displaced as a result of the foreign-backed militancy in Syria, saying the Middle Eastern countries, especially the Arab League member states, must adopt a more active approach to addressing the needs of Syrian refugees.

Plibersek made the remarks after her country completed its military operation in Syria on Saturday night days after Canberra accepted a request by Washington to join the alliance that carries out air raids on purported Daesh positions in Syria.

Australia has already been assisting the US-led coalition in its aerial campaign in Iraq.

“No weapons were released during the mission,” read the statement issued by Australia’s Defense Department, adding, “The mission provided on-call interdiction and dynamic targeting support as part of the international coalition’s effort to disrupt and degrade Daesh.”

Since late September 2014, the US and some of its Arab allies have been conducting airstrikes against Daesh militants inside Syria without any authorization from Damascus or a UN mandate.

The airstrikes have hit Syrian infrastructure and caused civilian deaths.

This is while many members of the same US-led alliance have been among the staunch supporters of Takfiri terrorists operating to topple the Syrian government since March 2011.

According to reports, the violence has so far claimed more than 240,000 lives.

 M.Wassouf