Iran: Syria presidential vote is a chance for peace

Iran says the June 3 presidential vote in Syria is an opportunity for peace and stability after three years of the massive war that has killed thousands of people.

Speaking at her weekly press conference in Tehran on Tuesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham called on all parties involved in the Syrian crisis to help resolve the conflict through peaceful and political channels.

Afkham reiterated the Islamic Republic’s readiness to help resolve the Syrian crisis, saying that voting in the election is a basic right of the Syrian people.

“We consider holding the election as among the rights of the Syrian nation,” said Afkham, urging the international community to respect the will of the Syrian people.

Syria has announced it will hold presidential elections on June 3.

The presidential election in Syria comes as the country has been gripped with deadly violence since March 2011. According to reports say over 150,000 people have lost their lives and millions of others have been displaced as a result of the conflict in the country.

Iran has repeatedly stressed that the crisis should be resolved through an indigenous political solution and the holding of free elections in the country.

Elsewhere in her remarks, Afkham criticized the mass death verdicts handed down to the Muslim Brotherhood supporters and leaders in Egypt.

On Monday, a court in Egypt sentenced 683 supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi to death amid an intensifying crackdown on dissent.
Egypt has been experiencing unrelenting violence since Morsi was ousted on July 3, 2013.