Abdullahian: Annan Focused on Monitoring Borders to Prevent Arms Smuggling

Iranian Assistant Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdullahian said that the talks with the UN Special Envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, focused on the need for monitoring the Syrian borders to prevent smuggling arms to the terrorist groups.

In a statement to the Iranian News Agency (IRNA), he said that Tehran stressed that “the important issue for now is to monitor the Syrian borders to prevent the flow of weapons to the terrorist groups to end violence, which will give the chance for the situation to go back to normal.”

Abdullahian said that Annan’s plan to halt violence has not achieved the hoped-for results because of smuggling arms from other countries to Syria, adding that Iran informed Annan of its concern over obstacles put by some countries in the way of the implementation of Annan’s plan as well as weapons smuggling into Syria.

For Tehran, the solution in Syria is not military or security one, rather it is a political solution within the framework of Annan’s six-point plan which is the same plan of President Bashar al-Assad for reforms, said Abdullahian, stressing that Annan’s plan can help settle the current crisis in Syria.

He added that the terrorist groups in Syria, which have connections with some foreign countries, are becoming more active, pushing popular demands into the shade.