Salehi, Lavrov Advocate Annan's Peace Plan For Syria

Tehran, June 15, IRNA – Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov advocated Kofi Annan's peace plan for Syria, in a press conference held here on Wednesday. The two top diplomats stressed need for immediate end of violence in Syria based on the political solution proposed by the US Specail Envoy Koffi Annan and the Russian proposed peace plan. 'Since Iran is an important player in the Middle East, its active presence in Moscow summit on Syria is of great importance,' Lavrov noted. Salehi for his part noted that Syria's stability is important both for the regional and for the international peace and security. 'All the concerned parts of Syria conflict should help end to the violence, there,' he noted. Furthermore, Salehi and his Russian counterpart emphasized development of bilateral relations. 'The destinies of the two nations of Iran and Russia as two neighbors are intermingled and there are lots of grounds for cooperation between Tehran and Moscow,' Iran's FM added. Lavrov for his part, called the previous contacts between the two countries' high-ranking officials, including the recent meeting between the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on the sideline of the 12th Shanghai Cooperation summit as positive. Russian FM also referred to the Caspian Sea staus and the Syrian developments as well as Afghanistan issue, as issues of utmost importance for both Moscow and Tehran. 'Iran and Russia economic meetings and cooperation are constructive,' he underlined. Speaking about Iran and G5+1 upcoming talks in Moscow, Salehi said that he is optimistic about the final results of the talks. The Iranian foreign minister added that the two previous rounds of talks have been in the right path. He also hoped that Moscow talks would also be constructive. In response to a question regarding Iran’s proposals to Moscow meeting, Salehi noted that Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili and EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton talked on phone and reached agreements which were covered by the media. It is important to know that Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country. Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes. The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad. In October, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of stirring unrests in Syria once again. Furthermore, it should be noted that Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran (SNSCI), Sa'eid Jalili had two days of intensive talks with the G5+1, headed by the EU Foreign Policy Chief, Catherine Ashton, on Iran nuclear issue. EU foreign policy chief, who headed the delegations of the six world powers in negotiations with Tehran, announced in the joint press conference with Jalili that the two sides made progress and held positive talks in Baghdad on Wednesday and Thursday. Secretary of Supreme National Security Council of Iran also said on Thursday that the Tehran-G5+1 talks were held in a good atmosphere. The Baghdad meeting came after Iran and the six world powers resumed talks in Istanbul, Turkey, last month and agreed to meet again in the Iraqi capital on May 23. The two sides are due to continue their negotiations in the Russian capital, Moscow, on June 18 and 19. Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only./end