Top Iranian Diplomat asks US to reconsider policy of arming Syrian dissidents

Deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs emphasizing the need to respect Syria’s territorial integrity asked Washington to reconsider its policy of arming some groups of opponents of the Syrian system.

Hossein Amir Abdollahian stressed the negative effects of forwarding arms and munitions for irresponsible terrorist groups in the region, including those in Syria, and its negative aftermaths for the regional and international security in his Wednesday evening meeting with visiting UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Elliason.

Amir Abdollahian announced Iran’s readiness for cooperation with the UN in establishment of peace and stability in the region, referring to the constructive cooperation that the two sides have already had in various fields.

The Iranian deputy foreign minister referred to the destructive policies pursued by some regional and some transregional countries aimed at achieving certain objectives, arguing that such policies are truly futile.

He criticized the useless US air raids against the ISIS in its self-claimed anti-terrorism campaign and Washington’s self-contradictory policies in dealing with the notorious terrorism phenomenon.

The UN deputy secretary general, too, for his part evaluated Iran’s key role in the region as significant, adding that the UN attaches great importance to consultations with Iran in efforts aimed at regional problem resolving.

Elliason said that extremism is today the most important problem with which the region is engaged, considering it a necessity to identity the roots for extremism and to launch a collective campaign to solve the problem.

He said he agreed with the Iranian officials on the point that solving the Syrian crisis is possible only through political initiatives and that ending the forwarding of arms and ammunitions for the terrorists is necessary.

The two sides agreed in the meeting on the need for close cooperation between Iran and the UN in establishment of peace and stability in the region.