Syria crisis political solution drawing closer: Iran

… from  Press TV,  Tehran

[ Editor’s Note: This is an important photo that puts another dagger through the heart of another US foreign policy farce, listing Iran as a terrorism sponsor for supporting Hezbollah, when both of them are fighting ISIL and the US coalition terror groups in Syria.

Iran’s anti-terrorism efforts in Syria are being officially credited by de Mistura, which is something the US cannot take away. This was done partially to make the Saudi opposition group squirm by seeing, “no, they are not running the show.”

The next round of talks restart on Wednesday with de Mistura doing his room to room juggling because the parties will not talk to each other directly. The Syrian delegation is not arriving until after the elections are final, which will be Friday.

I did a Press TV Debate show on Monday with Lawrence Korb, ex-Assistant Sec. of Defense under Reagan, who has seen it all. A connection problem did not get me on until it was half over, but you can see my comments on the geopolitical shadow-boxing over the elections starting at about half way through. One of the advantages of getting old is that you get paired up with other old guys, who usually know, which makes for a better debate.

The VT team got an invitation to cover the Syrian elections, but we could not take time away now, as Gordon is on the road and the rest of us are holding the fort here. As each week goes by, it becomes more clear who the real supporters of terrorism have been, and lying about it will not wash off the stain… Jim W. Dean ]

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– First published  …  April 12,  2016 –

Iran is happy to see that a political solution to the five-year-old crisis in Syria is getting closer, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with the United Nations envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, in Tehran on Monday, Amir-Abdollahian added that political talks between the Syrian government and the opposition have entered a “new phase” as the two sides are set to resume indirect negotiations in the Swiss city of Geneva on Wednesday.

“We are happy that we are approaching a political settlement of the crisis in Syria and we hope that all regional and international sides will take fundamental and important steps on the two paths of fighting terrorism seriously and strengthening the political process,” the Iranian official said.

He also expressed hope that all regional and international parties would stop taking “conflicting measures” which would be beneficial neither to Syria nor to the Syrians.

He said he held “important” discussions with the UN envoy in Tehran on the political process in Syria.

“During today’s talks, De Mistura emphasized that there is no link between negotiations with the United Nations and terrorist movements but the issue of the list of terrorist groups is still among vague issues in the talks and the political process,” Amir-Abdollahian added.

He, however, expressed concern over the increase in the activities of “irresponsible armed groups” in Syria over recent days and an uptick in violations of ceasefire in the country, saying that could harm the political process.

He said a selective way to dispatch humanitarian aid to Syria by certain sides has also caused problems.

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Jim W. Dean

Jim W. Dean is VT Editor Emeritus.  He was an active editor on VT from 2010-2022.  He was involved in operations, development, and writing, plus an active schedule of TV and radio interviews.  He now writes and posts periodically for VT.

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