Zarif trying to arrange trilateral meeting on Syria: FM Spokesman

EghtesadOnline: Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi says Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif is in efforts to finalize a plan for holding a trilateral meeting on December 27 by foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey and Russia on Syria.

News ID: ۷۳۸۶۶۴

17 December 2016

Speaking to IRNA Friday evening, Qasemi said that following the escalating situation in Syria in the past couple of days, Zarif has been making constant and intensive efforts and repeated phone calls with a number of his counterparts from other countries including Russia, and Turkey to find an effective mechanism to solve the Syrian issue and finalize the plan for a trilateral meeting to this end.

He said the “fabricated crisis in Syria and dispatch of unknown terrorists by the pro-terrorist Western-Arab axis to that country at the time of the so-called Arabian Spring with the illusion of toppling legal government of Syria, have resulted in all the humanitarian and financial catastrophe in the country.”

Qasemi regretted that what is happening today and in long recent years in Syria is the result of intervention of certain countries and their trained terrorist groups.

The spokesman made it clear that since the beginning of the fabricated crisis in Syria, “the Islamic Republic of Iran has been warning against growing insecurity and plot in the region under vain pretexts.”
“Since then Iran has been in efforts to control the crisis through encouraging legal opposition groups of Syria and the Syrian government to hold talks, exercise ceasefire and find a political solution out of the negotiation table.”

Qasemi said Iran was the first and only country that offered multi-point plans for ceasefire, providing humanitarian aid and holding a Syrian-Syrian dialogue in the war-stricken country and is still insisting on those plans.

Pointing to recent controversy and hue and cry of the pro-terrorism Western-Arab camp regarding the situation in Aleppo, Qasemi said adoption of propaganda and double standard policies by those countries, that are visible and invisible supporters of terrorists in Syria and other regions, is clear in the vain hues and cry.

Unfortunately, the Western-Arab axis shouts the slogan of ceasefire and protecting the civilians whenever that terrorists are under pressure, commented Qasemi.

He underlined that despite all those shows, the Islamic Republic of Iran and foreign minister in person have in line with the principled policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, launched extensive and wide-scale consultations to help civilians and restore stability in Aleppo of Syria.

Qasemi added that several phone calls and other methods of consultation as well as the idea of holding a tripartite meeting of foreign ministers from Iran, Russia and Turkey are examples of the same principled policies of pursued by the Iranian foreign minister.

Concluding his remarks, Qasemi emphasized that irrespective of the vain and deceitful controversy of certain countries, the Islamic Republic of Iran has been considering protection of lives of civilians, restoration of stability and security to all parts of Syria and beginning of the Syrian-Syrian talks as a constant strategy to solve the ongoing crisis in Syria.

Iran still believes that Syrian crisis has only a political solution, the spokesman stressed.