Iran, China consider Assad plan to end Syria crisis realistic

IRAN: An Iranian deputy foreign minister says the Islamic Republic and China regard as realistic the peace plan proposed by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to resolve the crisis in the Arab country.

Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remark after his meetings with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun on the Middle East developments in Beijing on Wednesday. Pointing to close viewpoints held by Iran and China on international issues, Amir-Abdollahian said both countries stress non-interference of foreign parties in Syria, complete halt of terrorist activities, and control of borders. We believe that the situation in Syria is improving and we should help the Syrian people and that the Assad plan must be supported, the Iranian deputy foreign minister added.

He reiterated that the only solution to the Syria unrest is political, saying that military measures in Syria are bound to fail and certain countries’ support of terrorist groups has had no result but human losses and infrastructural damages.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the turmoil.

In a key speech on January 6, Assad called for an end to the terrorist operations inside Syria and urged “concerned states and parties” to stop funding, arming and harboring militants.

He said his government is always ready to hold talks with the opposition and political parties and will call for a “comprehensive national dialog” after foreign parties end their support for the militants and the terrorist activities cease in the country.

PRESS TV