Iran’s Deputy FM: President Assad Must Be in Any Plan in Syria

The role of the Syrian people and government and the serious efforts made by president Assad to combat terrorism should be considered in any plan in Syria, Amir Abdollahian said in a meeting with the United Nations special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Tuesday.

“We regard Mr. Bashar al-Assad as part of the solution in Syria and he is part of any political solution in the future of Syria,” he noted.

He further pointed to de Mistura’s peace plan for Syria, saying that although his plan has some positive points, “it does have some ambiguities”.

The UN envoy, for his part, emphasized that Iran is one the influential countries in the Middle East, which can play a major role in resolving regional problems.

Syria has been gripped with civil war since March 2011. According to the United Nations, more than 220,000 people have been killed and one million wounded during the conflict.

The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorist group controls a territory covering areas between Syria and Iraq.

In the meantime, Iran has remained a close ally of Syria and supports its legitimate government in the face of foreign-backed militancy.

Tehran insists that the Syrian nation is the only side that has the right to shape the future of its own country, rejecting foreign intervention with the use of force, tasnimnews reported.