Regional advocates of war on Syria to shift stance: Iran MP

A senior Iranian lawmaker says he believes some regional supporters of military action against Syria will soon shift their policy to advocating political solutions for the crisis in the Arab country.

“The developments inside Syria make everyone come to the conclusion that the solution for the Syrian crisis is not a military [one]; and, I think, in the not too distant future, we will witness a change in the policy of certain regional countries whose orientations are [currently] in favor of the military approach in Syria,” said Chairman of Iran’s Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi upon his arrival in Tehran from a trip to Lebanon and Syria.

Boroujerdi pointed to the dispatching of foreign-backed militants to Syria to fulfill the illegal objectives of the US, noting, “Despite the Americans’ claims that they are seeking a political solution for the Syrian crisis, they in fact seek to militarily change Syria’s political structure.”

He pointed to the improvement of the situation in Syria and the liberation of more regions by the government forces and said, “We hope to see an end to this crisis, even though the Americans still insist on their mistake and the Zionist regime (Israel) is also very active in this respect.”

Since 2011, Syria has been experiencing a deadly militancy that has reportedly left more than 130,000 people dead and millions displaced.

The Western powers and their regional allies – especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey – are reportedly supporting the militants operating inside Syria.

In a report released in December 2013, the International Center for the Study of Radicalization (ICSR) said between 3,300 and 11,000 militants from over 70 countries were fighting against the Syrian government from late 2011 to December 10, 2013.