US seeks to downplay Iran's role in Syria

IRAN: An Iranian lawmaker says the United States seeks to downplay Iran's crucial role in resolving the Syrian crisis.

Mohammad Saleh Jokar made the remark in response to the US reaction to Iran's holding of a recent consultative meeting on Syria.

On Thursday, August 7, Iran hosted a day-long consultative meeting on Syria, attended by officials and representatives from nearly 30 countries, to discuss the Syria unrest.

The United States dismissed the importance of the conference and criticized Islamic Republic for supporting the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government. "The US seeks to play down Iran's pivotal role in resolving the Syrian crisis," the Iranian lawmaker, also a member of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, told Majlis official news agency, ICANA, on Saturday. Adding that Washington aims to bar Iran's participation in ending the Syria crisis, Jokar reiterated that "the policy of isolating Iran will get nowhere."

The Iranian lawmaker noted that the Syrian crisis cannot be resolved through ideas proposed by hostile countries whose only goal is to overthrow the Syrian government. Jokar stated that unilateral measures by the US and its allies in Syria have not only failed so far, but also fostered insecurity in the country." Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Damascus says 'outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists' are behind the unrest while the West and the opposition accuse the security forces of killing protesters.

PRESS TV