Lebanese Speaker: Iran’s Partnership Vital for Settling crisis in Syria

TEHRAN (FNA)- The crisis in Syria cannot be resolved without Iran’s cooperation and partnership, Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said, adding that certain regional states do not have a correct understanding of the new situation in the region.

“Certain Arab and regional states have failed to gather a correct understanding of the new regional and international conditions to devise their foreign policy in accordance with the new conditions,” Berri said in a meeting with Iranian Ambassador to Beirut Qazanfar Roknabadi on Friday afternoon.

He underlined Iran’s special situation in the region and the world, and said, “The settlement of the regional problems is not possible without considering the Islamic Republic of Iran’s role and situation.”

“On the crisis in Syria, it has been obvious since the onset of the developments that the settlement of the crisis is impossible without the Islamic Republic of Iran’s partnership,” Berri reiterated.

In relevant remarks on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif underscored Tehran’s decisive role in the settlement of the crisis in Syria.

During the meeting in New York on Wednesday, the UN chief said that Iran could play an important role in resolving the crisis in Syria.

Ban stressed the need for Tehran’s presence in any international talks on Syria.

He also called for further cooperation between Iran and the UN in various regional issues.

Zarif, for his part, pointed to Iran’s efforts to settle the crisis in Syria through peaceful means, and reiterated Tehran’s readiness to continue efforts to find a diplomatic solution to the Syrian crisis.

Iranian officials have repeatedly underlined that Tehran is in favor of negotiations between the Syrian government and “opposition groups”  to create stability in the Middle Eastern country.

R.S