Rouhani: Iran ready to discuss Syrian crisis with all countries

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani has spoken about Tehran's readiness to take part in negotiations on a settlement of the conflict in Syria.

"Iran is ready to negotiate with any country, including regional countries as well as the world powers," Reuters cited him as saying.

Earlier it was reported that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif passed a plan to resolve the crisis to the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in August, RIA Novosti reports. The document includes such measures as an immediate cease-fire, the formation of a national unity government, constitutional protection for minorities and supervised elections. According to AFP, the Syrian president responded positively to the peace initiative.

A senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies, Vladimir Sazhin, told Vestnik Kavkaza that the probability of Tehran joining the discussion of this problem is quite high. "Now the attitude of the Obama administration to Iran has changed. Therefore, I think that Iran will take part in the discussion of the Syrian problem. Moreover, it has repeatedly said that it is ready to take part in the international coalition in the fight against Islamic State, which operates both in Iraq and in Syria," he said.

"The situation in Iraq and Iran is very dangerous, the activity of the terrorists requires Iran to be a full member of the international dialogue," the expert noted.

According to him, Tehran joining the peace process will make it effective and efficient. "Firstly, Iran is one of the few allies of Bashar al-Assad, and therefore its opinion on the situation in the country is extremely important. Secondly, Iran has the military capacity to exert pressure in taking part in the fight against IS," Vladimir Sazhin concluded.

The director of the Social and Political Research Center, the head of the Caucasus department at the Institute of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Vladimir Yevseyev, in his turn, said that "real cooperation between the West and Iran to resolve the Syrian crisis is now impossible." "However, the situation in Syria is now changing due to the fact that deliveries of significant quantities of weapons are carried out there. It is possible that the negative situation for the Syrian National Army will change, and then we can re-examine the possibility of Iran's involvement in the settlement of the Syrian crisis within the framework of the Geneva -3. This is not, however, possible now," he added.

According to the expert, "Iran is one of the main participants in the settlement of the Syrian crisis." "According to a number of expert assessments, each year Iran allocates up to $8 billion for the maintenance of the current Damascus government. Under these circumstances, any negotiations without Iran are pointless. Anyway, I think the role of Iran is no less than that of Saudi Arabia in the settlement of the Syrian crisis," Vladimir Yevseyev concluded.