Iran urges dialog to end Syria unrest

Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi says the crisis in Syria can be settled through dialog, warning that foreign military support for the terrorists will complicate the situation in the Arab country.

Salehi made the remarks in a Wednesday meeting with Tanzania’s Defense Minister Shamsi Vuai Nahodha in the capital, Tehran.

“Interference by foreign countries and military support for extremist groups will merely complicate [the situation] and increase the extent of destruction in Syria,” Salehi said.

Turmoil has gripped Syria since March 2011, and many people, including large numbers of Syrian security forces, have been killed in the unrest.

The Tanzanian official, for his part, praised Iran’s efforts to find the most reasonable solution to the crisis in Syria through negotiations and underlined the need for the expansion of cooperation among countries to prevent regional and international crises.

The two officials also called for the enhancement of ties in different fields.

On the same day, Salehi also met with Uganda’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs in charge of Regional Cooperation Asuman Kiyingi.

During the meeting, Salehi called on the international community to take swift measures to put an end to the turmoil in Syria.

“Since Syria is located in a very sensitive region, its developments are not limited to the country and even the region, but are on course to go international. Therefore, the international community should take steps toward settling the crisis,” he said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Salehi said the Islamic Republic pursues the policy of expanding ties with African countries, praising the relations between Iran and Uganda.

Kiyingi, for his part, stressed his country’s opposition to any military option in Syria and expressed support for talks between the parties to the conflict as the only way out of the ongoing unrest.

The meetings were held on the sidelines of the International Conference on Syria held in the Iranian capital on May 29. The event brought together delegates from around 40 countries.

The international conference was convened to help find a political solution to the crisis in the Arab country.