Syria

Syrian Opposition Sees Tehran Conference as Yardstick to Discern Nationalists from Foes


Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Qadri Jamil, who is also an opposition figure, described the Tehran conference between Damascus and the opposition as a “yardstick” to discern “Syrian nationalists from enemies”.

“The Syrian opposition’s meeting in Tehran is a criterion to show nationalists and those standing against them,” Jamil told FNA on Monday.

“Those who are not nationalists are seeking foreign interference and violence in Syria, but we as internal opposition are different from foreign dissidents,” the Syrian opposition figure said.

“The internal (Syria-based) opposition supports continued resistance (against Israel and the US) as a value, while it also demands fundamental economic and social reforms in a move to further reinvigorate Syria’s position,” he explained.

Over 200 Syrian religious and political figures, leaders of tribes and parties as well as representatives and leaders of the opposition groups have joined the two-day meeting in Tehran which kicked off on Sunday.

Also a number of Syrian parliament members as well as senior political figures from Sudan, Algeria, Turkey, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq, Brazil and Zimbabwe have taken part the meeting.

This was the first time that both Syrian opposition figures and the minister of national reconciliation Ali Haidar, as the representative of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government, are discussing ways of finding a solution to the Syrian crisis.

The Syrian National Dialogue Conference, titled ‘No to Violence, Yes to Democracy”, kicked off in Tehran on Sunday.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is in favor of negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition groups to create stability in the Middle Eastern country.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country.

Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes.

The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.

In October 2011, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies are seeking hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of increasing unrests in Syria.

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