Mogherini says meeting with Zarif beginning of EU work on Syria

Tehran– The European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said her meeting with the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif focused not just on mutual ties but rather was the beginning of a cooperation the European body is planning to have with regional powers on the Syrian issue, according to IRNA.

In a post titled “Back from Tehran”, she wrote in her website on Saturday, “I write on my way back from Tehran, where I met with President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.It wasn’t simply a bilateral visit: this is the beginning of a work the European Union has decided to do with the regional powers, on the future of Syria.

The urgency is certainly to stop the fighting, deliver humanitarian aid to the population, and end the war through the political process the United Nations are working on. In Tehran we discussed all this. But in the meantime Europe, together with the other countries in the region, can create the conditions to start that process, and to begin to plan the physical, political and social reconstruction of Syria.

The day after the war ends, a whole country will need to re-invent itself. It will be up to Syrians to decide the political and institutional structure of their country, but regional powers can accompany the process and avoid hindering it. The European Union will also help, together with the United Nations, in dialogue with all key countries: we have good communication channels in the region, with all players. This includes Iran and Saudi Arabia, where I’ll be on Monday; it includes Qatar (I met the Foreign Minister just days ago) and Turkey, where I will also head soon for the same kind of focused discussion on the future of Syria.”

She also stressed that “Our work on political solutions is the best investment in a stable future. This is also true inside our European Union.”

M.Wassouf