Iran proposes contact group on Syria - Gayo Lues

“When a nation is hit by crisis, it is one of the customary methods of international relations to establish a contact group by impartial countries to manage the parties involved [in the crisis] and to pave the way for mutual understanding, interaction, and dialogue,” Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said at a press conference after a one-day international consultative meeting on the Syrian situation in Tehran on Thursday.

Salehi said that more discussions about the technicalities regarding the contact group will be held in the near future.

He noted that forming the contact group will be in line with Iran’s policy to look for a democratic solution to the Syrian situation.

“The political, demographic, and geopolitical features of Syria are such that make internal and political dialogue the only possible solution to this crisis,” the Iranian foreign minister said during the meeting on the Syrian situation in Tehran.

“Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, Iran has highlighted the priority of political and peaceful measures and strategies for the restoration of peace to this country (Syria),” Salehi added.

Delegates from more than 30 countries, including Russia, China, Iraq, and Jordan attended the event in Tehran.

In a Thursday message to the consultative meeting in Tehran, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that Iran’s initiative has opened opportunities to find a peaceful solution to the Syrian situation. He called on all nations to actively support efforts to stop, what he warned could soon turn into, a long-term civil war in the country.

MHB/HN