'Iran, Lebanon support diplomatic settlement of Syria crisis'

Rasa - A senior Iranian official says the Islamic Republic and Lebanon have common views about the importance of solving the nearly six-year Syrian crisis only through diplomatic approaches.

News ID: 426774

Date: 23 January 2017 - 22:19

RNA - The Iranian Parliament speaker's special advisor on international affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, made the comment while speaking to reporters in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Monday following a meeting with the country’s Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

“We believe that a political solution is the only way to solve the crisis in Syria,” he said.

He added that Iran and Lebanon would never spare any effort to help Syria fight terrorism.

Amir-Abdollahian said political approaches can also solve the existing crises in Yemen and Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia has been engaged in a deadly campaign against Yemen since March 2015 in an attempt to bring back Yemen’s former President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, a staunch ally of Riyadh, to power and undermine the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement.

The Saudi war has so far claimed the lives of at least 11,400 Yemenis, and taken a heavy toll on the country’s facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools, and factories.

Bahrain, a close ally of the US, has also been experiencing a wave of anti-regime demonstrations since mid-February 2011. Scores of people have been killed and hundreds of others injured or detained amid Manama’s ongoing crackdown on dissent and widespread discrimination against the country’s Shia majority.

The Iranian official expressed hope that all crises in the region would be settled through diplomacy, national dialogue and a serious fight against terrorism.

He noted that he had exchanged views with the Lebanese Parliament speaker about the latest developments in the Middle East, particularly the Palestinian, Yemeni and Syrian issues.

Heading a delegation, Amir-Abdollahian arrived in Beirut on Monday to hold talks with the Lebanese officials on leading regional and international issues.

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