Iran's Zarif: No Military Solution to Syrian Crisis


Iran's Zarif: No Military Solution to Syrian Crisis

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reiterated Tehran's stance on the necessity to find a political solution to the ongoing crisis in Syria, adding that the issue has no military solution.

"We consider political solution as the way to resolve problems in Syria and in this regard, there is no prospect of military solution," Zarif said in a meeting with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem in Damascus on Wednesday evening.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that respecting Syria's sovereignty, rights to decide political fate based on the vote of people and opposition to foreign interference in Syrian nation’s internal affairs, especially in deciding who will lead the country are among the issues that are related to the Syrian nation's dignity," Zarif stressed.

The Iranian minister also highlighted the new capacities in domestic and international levels, and noted that the ongoing situation in the Middle East has well proved Iran’s realistic approach to the "real global threat" posed by the ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) terrorist group and their heinous crimes.

“You can now see that the ISIL has brought real challenges to Turkey and Saudi Arabia in addition to Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Tunisia, the US, and France," Zarif noted.

Muallem, for his part, referred to Iran’s gains in its nuclear talks with world powers, stressing that Damascus considers Tehran’s nuclear achievements as very significant in the promotion of diplomacy and dialog in resolving regional problems.

Zarif arrived in the Syrian capital of Damascus on Wednesday to hold talks with the Arab country’s officials on various bilateral and regional issues.

Before his meeting with Muallem, the Iranian minister held talks with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. After the meeting, he said that he and the Syrian president had exchanged views on finding a political solution to the ongoing crisis in the Arab country.

Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011. In the past four years, more than 200,000 people have died in Syria - overwhelmingly civilians - and around 4 million Syrian people are now refugees in other countries. Another 7.6 million are displaced inside Syria.

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