‘Tehran meeting positive step towards resolving Syria crisis’

Syrian deputy prime minister for economic affairs Qadri Jamil has described Syria National Dialogue in Iran’s capital, Tehran, as a positive step towards resolving the country’s crisis.

Jamil said on Monday that the meeting is also a positive step towards strengthening negotiations among Syrian groups and could yield significant results.

Jamil made the remarks on the sidelines of the two-day meeting between the Syrian government and opposition groups in Tehran which began on Sunday.

Nearly 200 participants, including Syrian scholars, tribal and religious leaders, representatives of different ethnicities, minorities and the opposition as well as representatives from other countries are participating in the meeting.

The Syrian official said all groups participating in Tehran’s meeting stress the necessity of finding a comprehensive political solution to Syria’s crisis and preventing foreign interference in the Arab country.

Jamil added that the National Dialogue meeting was effective in brining the views of member states of Syria contact group closer together.

The initiative for forming a contact group on Syria comprising Iran, Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia was put forward by Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi during the summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which was held in Mecca on August 14-15.

Syria has been experiencing a deadly unrest since March 2011 and many people, including large numbers of army and security personnel, have been killed in the turmoil.

Iran has repeatedly voiced its opposition to any foreign interference in Syria’s internal affairs, calling for inclusive dialog and national reconciliation as well as free elections as the key to the settlement of the crisis in the country.