Iran FM urges dialogue, calls for immediate end to violence in Syria

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has reiterated Tehran’s calls for an immediate end to the ongoing violence plaguing Syria, saying the crisis in the Arab country must be resolved through a Syrian-Syrian dialogue.

During a Tuesday meeting with Syrian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Jihad al-Laham in Tehran, Salehi hailed the parliamentary diplomacy and cooperation between parliaments of Iran and Syria to deal with nearly two years of foreign-backed unrest in the country.

The Iranian minister further presented Laham with a report on Iran’s negotiations with different regional and world countries in an effort to find a peaceful solution to the Syrian issue.

Salehi also reaffirmed Iran’s support for Syria in dispelling the enemies’ sedition against the Islamic resistance.

For his part, Laham expressed Syria’s gratitude to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and the Iranian people and government for backing the Syrian nation all through the crisis.

The Syrian parliament speaker added that the inhuman acts committed by foreign-backed extremist groups inside Syria are due to their failure in field operations.

Laham further slammed the West and its regional allies for the recent claims regarding the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government, saying the allegations are fabricated to pave the way for further interference in Syria’s internal affairs.

This comes while the United States, Israel and Britain claim that there is evidence of the Syrian government using chemical weapons in its fight against the foreign-backed militants. However, Syria has dismissed the allegations, describing them as a “barefaced lie.”

Many people, including a large number of security personnel, have lost their lives in the deadly violence that broke out in Syria in March 2011.