There will be no going back to old Syria: Iranian envoy

TEHRAN, April 14 (MNA) - The Iranian ambassador to Lebanon said that there will be no going back to the old Syria as the path of reform continues at full throttle. “There will be no going back to the old Syria as reforms are ongoing in a systematic manner,” Ambassador Ghazanfar Roknabadi stated in an interview with the Daily Star on Wednesday. “Syria will emerge even stronger, especially in the arena of resistance,” he added. He also said that Syria was out of the danger zone, but a conclusive end to the unrest remains elusive as several countries are still pushing to arm the opposition. The Iranian diplomat acknowledged that the crisis in Syria has left its marks on neighbors, but ruled out turmoil erupting in Lebanon. Roknabadi dismissed the eventuality of a military strike against Syria, saying the option has been ruled out since the start of the turmoil in the Arab country more than one year ago. “A confrontation with Syria would mean a confrontation with the entire entity of the resistance,” he said. Roknabadi added that the position of Western countries on Syria has changed during the last month because of “the double standard policies” of those countries, which are strictly governed by political self-interest. In response to a question about whether Hezbollah has been affected as a result of events in Syria, Roknabadi said that the resistance remained strong. Roknabadi also explained that the situation in Syria was “very different from what we witnessed in Egypt and Tunisia, for example.” He underlined that the majority of Syrians support reforms under the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad.