Representatives of 27 world and regional states as well as the UN envoy to Tehran are participating in the international consultative conference on the developments in Syria, which started work here in Tehran on Thursday.
At the beginning of the Tehran conference on Syria, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi addressed the audience on Iran’s position and policies to settle the crisis in the Arab country.
He underscored that the settlement of the crisis in Syria needs serious and comprehensive talks between the Syrian government and the opposition groups.
“We need serious and comprehensive talks between the opposition (forces) who have a position among people and the Syrian government in a background of tranquility and stability to settle the crisis in Syria,” Salehi said.
Representatives of different world states, including Russia, China, Belarus, Mauritania, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Benin, Sri Lanka, Ecuador, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Algeria, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Oman, Venezuela, Tajikistan, India, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Nicaragua, Cuba, Sudan, Jordan, Tunisia and Palestine at the level of three foreign ministers, two acting deputy ministers, 7 deputy ministers, 15 ambassadors and also the UN envoy to Tehran are attending the meeting.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Wednesday elaborated on the goals of the conference, and said, “The Tehran conference will be held to strengthen and stress pervasive regional and international efforts to help the Syrian people come out of the current crisis.”
Iran has adopted an active policy to settle the crisis in Syria which has been sparked and aggravated by a number of foreign countries. In relevant development, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili earlier this week visited Beirut and Damascus to discuss the crisis with the Lebanese and Syrian officials.
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 it is said that the US and its Middle East allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals are blamed for staging various plots in the hope of stirring unrests in Syria and supporting terrorists and rebel group.
27 world countries attending Tehran summit on Syria
