By Xinhua

TEHRAN, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian lawmaker said Saturday that Iran can help establish national reconciliation in Syria, semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

Avaz Heidarpour, member of Iran's Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, told Mehr that the Islamic republic is interested in a national reconciliation between the Syrian government and the opposition groups and "We believe that we have been successful in this regard and can establish national reconciliation in Syria."

Referring to a meeting on Syrian crisis to be held in Tehran on Sunday, Heidarpour said that the Syrian government and the opposition groups should resolve their problems in a peaceful way.

On Saturday, Mehr reported that "National Syrian Dialogue Meeting" will start on Sunday in Iran's capital of Tehran.

Some 200 political representatives from Syrian ethnic groups, minorities and oppositions, along with representatives of the Syrian parliament, will attend the meeting, said the report.

It is believed here that the West cannot develop ways to settle the Syrian issue, the Iranian lawmaker said, arguing that since they want to topple Syrian government.

"We try to develop mechanisms whereby the West is prevented from interfering in Syrian issue and to help the opposition and the Syrian government to do peacefully and stop bloodshed so that they can reach a national reconciliation," Heidarpour was quoted as saying.

"National Syrian Dialogue Meeting" is held in Iran for the first time and it will support Iran's position and strategic role in the region, he added.

On Nov. 15, a coalition of opposition groups inside Syria welcomed the meeting on Syria to be held in Iran on Sunday, saying that the conference aimed to bring the Syrian opposition together to discuss differences.

The National Democratic Bloc (NDB), which combines various opposition groups and currents inside Syria, said at a press conference on Thursday that the meeting in Iran would be confined to the opposition to discuss their differences, adding that the Syrian authorities would not be represented.

However, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, announced on Tuesday that the meeting was aimed at direct talks between Syrian opposition and the Syrian government to settle their issues.

Also on Saturday, Mehr said that representatives of the Syrian parliament, will attend the meeting.

 

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