Syria sees off crisis as militants gasp last breaths

Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs says Syria has successfully weathered its security crisis, adding that foreign-backed militants in the Arab country are “taking their last breaths.”

“Syria has successfully crossed over the security crisis and the few terrorists remaining on the peripheries of some of regions are taking their last breaths,” Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said at a meeting with Algeria’s Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci in the Algerian capital city of Algiers.

Amir-Abdollahian underlined the need for regional and international cooperation to put an immediate end to the residual violence in Syria, noting, “Like Algeria, the Islamic Republic of Iran considers political solutions and comprehensive dialogue as the sole path to resolve the Syrian crisis.”

“Unfortunately, some of the parties involved in the Syrian crisis refuse any negotiations to resolve the existing issues and practically stoke violence; [furthermore,] they are being overtly supported by certain countries,” the Iranian diplomat said.

Unrest has gripped Syria since March 2011 with the government saying that the turmoil, which has killed many people, including large numbers of Syrian army and security personnel, is being orchestrated from outside the country.

Amir-Abdollahian praised Algeria’s important position in the region and across the Muslim world and called for greater efforts to step up the volume of trade between Tehran and Algeria.

Medelci, for his part, praised Iran’s support for the Palestinian nation and Syria’s key role in the region and pointed out that Tehran and Algiers share the same view with regard to Syria as they both advocate a political solution and national dialogue to the crisis there.

He also called for further enhancement of Iran-Algeria ties and more unity in the Muslim world in the face of the common threats, and praised the achievements of the Islamic Republic in this regard.

Medelci further voiced Algeria’s support for Iran’s right to peaceful nuclear energy program and expressed Algiers’ readiness to host the next round of comprehensive negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 (permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany).

The latest round of the talks between Iran and the P5+1 was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on February 26-27. The two sides agreed to meet again in the city on April 5-6 to continue negotiations after holding expert-level talks in Istanbul, Turkey, on March 17-18.