By Vestnik Kavkaza
Recently Iran hosted a conference aimed at reconciling the conflicting parties in the Syrian conflict. According to the official Iranian news agency IRNA, the conference was attended by over 200 representatives of the opposition and the Syrian Minister for Conflict Resolution Ali Haidar and representatives of the Iranian government. Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi warned that the supply of arms would lead the opposition "to the explosive growth of organized terrorism." According to him, the supply of weapons to insurgents, of which Syria accuses Qatar and Saudi Arabia, "violates international principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of the country".
According to Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Russia, “the Tehran Conference was considered a symbol of negotiations between the opposition and the Syrian government. Most opposition groups, even those groups that do not recognize the government of Bashar al-Assad, took part in the conference and freely expressed their views at the conference. The Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Bashar al-Assad and the Minister of National Reconciliation took part in the conference on behalf of the government of Syria. The Islamic Republic of Iran started from the assumption that negotiations between the Syrian government and the opposition should be held, and that the resolution of the Syrian issue was solely in the hands of the Syrians.
We do not believe that the Syrian government needs Iranian weapons. This is not so. We believe that the Syrians will welcome Iran's aid in two ways: Iran's aid to the government of Syria to get closer to the opposition with Iran as a means for this approach, and the second way is the transfer of the reality that is happening in Syria, telling about Syrian events to other countries. Some Western media that convey what is happening in Syria have tarnished the image of the Syrian government and convey what they want and not the opinion of the Syrian people.
We believe that the only way to resolve the Syrian issue is negotiations between the Syrian opposition and the government of Syria. We proceed from the fact that the Syrian issue can be resolved in the right way only by the people of Syria, and we condemn any external intervention, especially military intervention or supply of weapons. That is why such initiatives - the supply of fighters and weapons - have spread Syrian instability to other countries. And so, of course, nominating a Syrian government or Syrian Ambassador in other states – whether in Paris or in Doha - is against humanity and against international etiquette and international order”.
As for the Iranian agenda, the idea of direct negotiations on Iran’s nuclear dossier between the U. S. and Iran has appeared in the media many times recently. Commenting on such an opportunity, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said: “We have a precedent of indirect negotiations with the U. S. on different issues concerning Iraq and Afghanistan. Now our negotiations within the work between Iran and the “group of six” are only indirect; as for direct dialogue, it depends only on the decision of the spiritual leader of Iran”.
Commenting on the prospects for the agreement after the re-election of President Obama, Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi said: “We hope very much that the President of America, Mr. Obama, will keep the promise that he gave during his first term. We hope that at the next talks of the "group of six", instead of double standards, more constructive approaches to the negotiations will be adopted. During the negotiations, the U.S. had two approaches to this. Firstly, they wanted to force Iran to back down and give up its legal rights. Secondly, they wanted to damage the Iranian economy by targeting the Iranian people. Iran has shown that there will be no derogation, and the response of the Iranian people against wrong actions will be decisive. Probably it is necessary that Mr. Obama change the behavior of the U.S. towards Iran and choose a more logical approach”.
