Iran proposes transitional government for Syria

TEHRAN, Oct. 17 (MNA) – A top Iranian Foreign Ministry official said that Tehran has proposed the establishment of a “transitional government” for Syria as a way to end the 18-month conflict in the country. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the deputy foreign minister for Arab and North African Affairs, broke the story in an interview published on Monday. In a joint press conference with UN envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi in Tehran on Sunday Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi announced Iran had put forward an unofficial written proposal to help resolve the Syrian crisis. Salehi did not elaborate on the proposal. Amir-Abdollahian said the proposal for transitional government was put forward during a foreign ministerial meeting of a contact group on Syria comprising Egypt, Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, which was held in New York on September 29. “The spirit of the initiative focuses on a political solution to the problems in Syria,” the Tehran Times quoted Amir-Abdollahian as saying.