Iranian Speaker: Political Solution to Syrian Crisis Lies in Ballot Box

 “The political solution to the Syrian crisis should come out of the ballot box and not from behind closed doors in certain countries …who can decide for a nation and another country like the Syrian nation,” Larijani said in Tehran on Sunday, addressing the second ‘Friends of Syria’ conference of the chairpersons of the national security and foreign policy commissions of the parliaments of those countries which have friendly relations with Syria.

He expressed the hope that the upcoming presidential election would be held in Syria successfully and would end the conflicts in the region.

Larijani blasted certain western and regional states for their financial and arms support for the terrorist groups in Syria, and said, “We pursue fighting terrorism in the region through democracy and not by sending weapons (to the terrorists).”

He also said that the presence of tens of the world states in the ‘Friends of Syria’ conference in Tehran today indicated these countries’ resolve to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis.

Over 30 countries have sent their representatives to Iran to participate in the conference on the Syrian crisis.

Iran held the first ‘Friends of Syria Conference’ in the presence of the chairpersons of the foreign policy commissions of Iran, Algiers, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Russia in March this year.

Resolutions of the Syrian crisis through diplomacy and immediate end to violation of human rights were the main topics of the first conference.

Venezuelan and Cuban ambassadors to Tehran were also present at the event.

Iranian officials have repeatedly underlined that Tehran is in favor of negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition groups to create stability in the Middle-Eastern country.

In November 2012, Iran hosted a meeting between the representatives of the Syrian government and opposition to encourage them to start talks to find a political solution to their problems. The National Dialogue Conference kicked off work in Tehran mid November with the motto of ‘No to Violence, Yes to Democracy”.

The meeting brought together almost 200 representatives of various Syrian ethnicities, political groups, minorities, the opposition, and state officials.

Syria has been the scene of deadly violence since March 2011. Over 130,000 people have reportedly been killed and millions displaced due to the crisis.

The western powers and their regional allies – specially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey – are supporting the militants operating inside Syria.