Iranian Minister of Energy Majid Namjou reiterated Tehran’s continued support for the Syrian government and nation, and stated that Iran will remain on the side of Syria, specially in hard times.
The Islamic Republic of Iran will never leave Syria alone in hard times, Namjou said in a ceremony to ink agreement on Iran-Syria energy cooperation on Thursday.
The Syrian government has always backed the Islamic Republic of Iran and its people and therefore under such circumstances where the western countries are busy masterminding various plots in collaboration with terrorist groups to disrupt Syria’s calm and order, Iran fully backs the Damascus government and people and never leave them alone, the Iranian minister underscored.
He further voiced Tehran’s preparedness to help Syria reconstruct infrastructures damaged during recent unrests.
Syria has been the scene of unrest since March 2011. Because the presence of armed groups who are supported, financed and armed by Washington, Tel Aviv, Ankara, London, Paris, Berlin and certain Arab regimes.
The US has not objected to its allies aiding rebel groups, and is rather facilitating the arms flow on the Turkey-Syria border, according to a Washington Post report in May.
The CIA’s ability to operate inside Syria was hampered severely by the decision to close the US embassy in Damascus earlier this year, officials said.
The US administration is exploring ways to expand non-lethal support to Syrian opposition groups, officials told the Washington Post.
Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes.
The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.
Earlier this month, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi had announced Tehran’s readiness to hold meetings with the Syrian dissidents in a move to facilitate talks between the opposing parties in the Muslim country.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to have meetings with Syrian dissidents to invite them to Iran in a bid to prepare and facilitate the ground for talks between the Syrian dissidents and government,” Salehi told reporters at the time.
Stressing the importance of finding a Syrian solution to the crisis in the Arab country, he said no foreign prescription and government should be imposed on the Syrians.
Tehran has repeatedly offered to help resolve the crisis, but this has been opposed by the US and its allies which support rebel and terrorist groups in the country. At the insistence of the US, Iran was left off the guest list of Annan’s multinational “action group” meeting on Syria in Geneva late last month, where the participating nations approved a communiqué outlining broad parameters for a “transitional” government.
Also in July, UN-Arab League Special Envoy on Syria Kofi Annan was in Tehran in a visit which signaled Iran’s key role in resolving the Syrian crisis. The former UN chief tried to rescue his peace plan for Syria by seeking help from Iran.
Prior to his Tehran visit, Annan said despite Washington’s harsh rhetoric, Iran is a main actor in the Syrian issue that “cannot be ignored”.
Annan told France’s Le Monde daily that Iran should be involved in discussions.
“Russia wields influence but I am not sure that the events will be determined by Russia alone…. Iran is an actor. It has to be part of the solution. It has influence and we cannot ignore it.”
Analysts believe that Annan’s visit may signal some new role for Iran in resolving the Syrian crisis.
In a statement, Annan said he had come to Iran “to see how we can work together to help settle the situation in Syria”.
