Iranian Speaker Pleased with Syrian Army’s Rapidly Improving Situation in Battlefield

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani voiced pleasure with the Syrian army’s rapid advances against the terrorist groups, and said the pro-government troops in Syria will experience a boost in the near future.

“Battlefield conditions in Syria are better than the past and based on estimates, God willing, the situation will become even better,” Larijani said in a meeting with Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Meqdad in Tehran on Wednesday.

Meqdad, for his part, referred to the Syrian army’s recent eye-catching victories against the terrorists, and said, “In the current conditions, we are witnessing that certain armed opposition groups are seeking reconciliatory moves and measures and therefore, (Syrian President) Bashar Assad believes that Syria’s partnership with Iran and Hezbollah produces nothing but victory.”

He also appreciated the Iranian nation and government’s support for the Syrian people in their fight against the terrorists.

Iranian and Syrian officials in a meeting in Tehran on Tuesday underlined the necessity for coordinated efforts to fight against terrorism seriously and pursue the political process to settle the crisis in Syria.

During the 6-hour talks, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian and his Syrian counterpart Meqdad discussed ways to find a political solution to the problems in Syria.

They also conferred on Tehran’s political initiatives which were discussed by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during Zarif’s recent visit to Damascus.

Amir Abdollahian also informed Meqdad of the results of the Vienna II negotiations among Tehran, the EU, Russia and the US as well as 15 other world nations on Syria.

Top diplomats from Iran, Russia, the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey and several other states convened in Vienna on Friday to discuss the Syrian crisis.

It was the first time that Iran had been invited to take part in the talks. Iran was not invited to the first Geneva conference, and while the country primarily received an invitation to take part in the second Geneva conference, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon later rescinded the invitation under pressure from the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition.