UN peace plan must respect Syrian nation’s vote

An Iranian lawmaker says the United Nations peace plan for the Syria crisis will be ineffective if it does not take the Syrian people’s opinion onboard.

“Any plan offered as a way out of the Syria crisis must be based on the acceptance of the vote of the Syrian people because it is the Syrian nation which should determine the country’s political future,” Mohammad Hassan Asafari said on Saturday.

He also stated that a primary and necessary precondition for the resolution of the Syria crisis through any peace plan is that the armed militants should lay down their weapons.

“And afterwards in the second stage, preliminary steps should be taken to hold elections,” Asafari added.

The Iranian lawmaker further noted that democracy has never come out of unrest and assassination in any country, saying that in order to achieve that goal, a major role should be considered for the people.

Syria crisis began in March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed.

Damascus says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants are foreign nationals.

The Syrian government says the West and its regional allies Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey are supporting the armed groups.

In a key speech on January 6, Syrian President Bashar al-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 added that his government is always ready to hold talks with the opposition and would call for a “comprehensive national dialog” after foreign parties end their support for the militants and the terrorist activities cease in the country.