Iranian Diplomat Terms Free Elections as Only Way to Decide Syria’s Fate

Iranian Ambassador to Beirut Qazanfar Roknabadi underlined the need for the cessation of hostilities and terrorist attacks in Syria, and stressed that the country’s fate should be decided in free elections.

“Stopping violence, holding negotiations and determining the country’s political fate through free elections is the only logical path to the Syrian problem,” Roknabadi said in a meeting with Brazilian Special Envoy to the Middle East Cesario Melantonio Neto at Iranian embassy in Lebanon on Monday.

Melantonio Neto, for his part, condemned the rebels’ armed attacks and atrocities in Syria, and stressed his country’s opposition to foreign interference in the country.

“Any attempt to meddle with Syria’s fate through shipment of arms and use of force is unjustifiable, is in blatant violation of the international laws and jeopardizes security and stability in the entire region.”

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.

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.

In October 2011, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of increasing unrests in Syria.

The US daily, Washington Post, reported in May that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups battling the President Bashar al-Assad’s government have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States.

The newspaper, quoting opposition activists and US and foreign officials, reported that Obama administration officials emphasized the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the Persian Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure.

According to the report, material is being stockpiled in Damascus, in Idlib near the Turkish border and in Zabadani on the Lebanese border.

Opposition activists who several months ago said the rebels were running out of ammunition said in May that the flow of weapons – most bought on the black market in neighboring countries or from elements of the Syrian military in the past – has significantly increased after a decision by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Persian Gulf states to provide millions of dollars in funding each month.