The Syrians should Alone Decide their Political Future: Russia , Iran

MOSCOW-TEHRAN,(ST)_ Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation Elias Ahumakhanov stressed on Tuesday that Russia is committed to its position that the fate of Syria must be only decided by the Syrian people.

Russia today website quoted  Ahumakhanov saying during a meeting with Hussein  Amir Abdul Allahaan, Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister for Arab Affairs in Moscow as saying the Russian  Parliament, government and head of state  “are committed to a unified stance concerning  the Syrian situation.”

He added: “We proceed from the fact that the fate of Syria must be decided by the Syrian people alone , and any  attempt from the outside to impose  any  model, will regrettably  lead to the  escalation of the situation.”

He went on that  a lot of Russian citizens are living in Syria, so that : “For us, the situation also carries a human dimension.”

For his part, Abdul Allahaan stressed that Iran  considers Russia strategic partner and supports the close cooperation between the two countries in many areas.

Meantime, Spokesman for the Iranian foreign ministry, Ramin Mehmanparast on Tuesday renewed his country’s position provides for finding out a peaceful solution for the crisis in Syria  through dialogue between the Syrians themselves, noting that the  West especially the USA wants to decide the fate and future of Syria on behalf of the Syrian people, who alone must decide their own political future and the ruling system in their country.

In a press conference  quoted by al-Alam TV on Tuesday,  Mehmanparast called on  the Western countries  which allege  democracy and human rights protection  to let the Syrian people  decide their future by themselves, away from their interventions.

 The Iranian official warned against the support of the west and certain regional and Arab countries to terrorists in Syria via sending money and weapons, stressing that this will further  endanger the security and safety  of the  Syrians and  even more lead to the expansion of the crisis in the region.

He called on  all parties to pressure the armed groups to pressure in order to achieve peace and security in Syria, provides the ground for a serious national dialogue for the crisis through  adopted democratic means.

Concerning  Iran’s position on the deployment of the Patriot  missiles on the  Turkish-Syrian border the Iranian official said:  “All countries should seek to bring peace and security in the region and any action undermines the security of this region must be alienated,  and we recommend Turkish officials to cooperate with neighboring  countries to establish  security and peace in the region.”

He held the  Western countries and NATO responsible  for the lack of security and peace in the Middle East , noting that “ they  did not have good experiences in  interfering in the affairs of our region.”

As for  the Iranian nuclear issue , the Iranian official said  :”The West must respect the rights of our people and to remove the alleged concern about Iran’s peaceful nuclear project and pursue a policy of dialogue, which is the right way to maintain a solution. “

T. Fateh