Syrian people should decide about their future: Iranian FM

TEHRAN,Jan.7(MNA) – Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said that the decision about the future of Syria rests with the Syrian people. Salehi made the remarks during a meeting with Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Meqdad in Tehran on Saturday. “The decision about the future of Syria rests with the people of the country, and the Islamic Republic of Iran condemns foreign intervention in any shape or form in independent countries’ internal affairs, including Syria,” he said. He also reiterated Iran’s principled policy to support the Syrian government and people and help find a way out of the current situation. In view of the fact that the Syrian government has expressed readiness to engage in national dialogue and called for a political solution to the issue, the parties that are opposed to national dialogue are responsible for the continuation of the crisis, the top Iranian diplomat noted. In addition, Salehi expressed hope that stability and calm would return to Syria through constructive cooperation between influential regional countries. Meqdad also briefed the Iranian foreign minister on his activities and diplomatic moves to help resolve the issue, including his recent visit to Russia. The Syrian deputy foreign minister visited Moscow on December 27 and held talks with Russian officials about the crisis in Syria. Elsewhere in his remarks, Meqdad thanked Iran for its efforts to help settle the Syrian issue, including the six-point proposal that Iran has put forward to help resolve the 21-month-old crisis in Syria. The proposal was originally announced on October 14, when Salehi delivered it to Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN-Arab League joint special envoy on Syria, during a meeting in Tehran. In the proposal, whose details were released on December 16, Iran has called for a halt to all acts of violence in Syria, the distribution of humanitarian aid among the people affected by the crisis which requires the lifting of economic sanctions against the country, national dialogue followed by the establishment of a transitional government agreed by all sides and free parliamentary and presidential elections, release of those arrested for peaceful political activities and a fair trial of criminals, an end to the campaign of misinformation against Syria, and the establishment of a committee to assess the damage to the country’s infrastructure. Meqdad also met with Iranian Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani on Sunday.