Leader’s Aide: Iran, Russia, Iraq Should Cooperate to Save Syria

TEHRAN -Supreme Leader’s top aide Ali Akbar Velayati expressed optimism about the settlement of the crisis in Syria, and said that Syria can be saved through tight and continued cooperation among Iran, Russia and Iraq, according to FNA.

“Since the start of the crisis in Syria, the West thought that the government in Syria will rapidly collapse, but now it is clear that the Syrian government is strong despite the will of the US and certain regional Arab countries,” Velayati said in a meeting with Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences VitalyNaumkin in Tehran on Wednesday.

He said that the strength and resistance of the Syrian government against the terrorist groups in the last three years vindicated the viewpoints of Iran and Russia in opposition to the military option against Syria.

Velayati expressed “conditional” optimism about the future of Syria, but said a settlement of the problem and crisis in Syria “depends on cooperation among Iran, Russia, Iraq and a number of other countries which still believe in political solution”.

Iran has always underlined a negotiated end to the crisis in Syria, reiterating that a halt in the arms flow to anti-government” militants “is the prerequisite to any diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria.

R.S