Qassemi: Iran Not to Allow Other States to Exert Influence on Syria

Local Editor

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi stressed the need for preserving Syria's territorial integrity, expressing hope that stability and calm will prevail all the Syrian territories.

In his weekly press conferencein Tehran, Qassemi underlined that his country doesn't intend to use Syria as a scope of influence and will not allow others to do so either.

"Iran's positions are clear. We have supported Syria's territorial integrity and will not allow Syria to turn into a sphere of influence for other countries, including Iran," he told reporters on Monday.

Qassemi further said it is not yet clear when the Astana talks will take place, adding that Iran has "no preconditions" for attending the negotiations aimed at resolving more than five years of deadly violence in Syria.

Currently, the potential participation of other countries in the planned talks is not under discussion, the Iranian official added.

He emphasized that the Astana talks will be purely intra-Syrian, and that the Islamic Republic will not seek to impose its own will on any side during the planned negotiations.

The Iranian official said that the claims saying that Syria has turned into an influence region for Russia, Iran and Turkey are "nonsense, irrelevant and incorrect".

The Syrian Army and the Armed Forces General Command on Thursday declared a comprehensive cessation of hostilities across all Syrian territories starting at 00:00 on 30/12/2016 in the wake of the victories and advances achieved by the Syrian armed forces on more than a front.

The Command added that the Takfiri Daesh [Arabic acronym for "ISIS" / "ISIL"] and Fatah al-Sham [formerly known as al-Nusra Front] terrorist groups as well as their affiliates are excluded from the agreement, pointing out that the ceasefire comes with the aim of creating suitable circumstances for supporting the political trend to resolving the crisis in Syria.

Russian President Vladimir Putin underlined on Friday that convergence between Moscow, Tehran and Ankara has led to the countrywide ceasefire in Syria, adding that they act as guarantors to end the conflict.

"Successful signing of the ceasefire agreement on Syria is the outcome of the efforts made by Russia, Iran and Turkey," President Putin said in a meeting with his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu.

The Russian president said that deal for establishing ceasefire in Syria had been signed by representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition.

"However, the truce is fragile and for the same reason, the parties to the ceasefire agreement should pay special attention and have regular contacts," President Putin said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team