[caption id="attachment_122082" align="alignright" width="159"] Ali Akbar Velayati, a top aide to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, shakes hands with visiting UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura on Sunday October 19, 2014.[/caption]
A senior Iranian official has called on the United Nations to help settle the ongoing crisis in Syria through diplomacy and political approaches.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran and certain countries that believe in a political solution to Syria [crisis] expect the United Nations to take step towards settling the crisis and achieving a political solution [to it],” Ali Akbar Velayati, a top aide to Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, said on Sunday.

Velayati, who is also president of the Expediency Council’s Center for Strategic Research, made the remarks in a meeting with visiting UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura in Tehran.

“Syria has turned into an important issue and the continuation of the crisis in the country will be detrimental to the entire region,” he said.

The Iranian official said the crisis in the region must be brought to an end as soon as possible and a peaceful and diplomatic solution must be found to settle the Syrian crisis.

“What is happening in Syria is strange with no similar case in history since an independent country with an independent government has been attacked by foreigners and its people are going through sufferings everyday and its sovereignty is violated,” Velayati said.

He added that terrorists and dissidents are being armed and trained against the Syrian government.

De Mistura, for his part, said his visit to Iran was aimed at discussing the very important global issue of Syria with the Iranian officials, adding “I believe that if the crisis continues, it will harm the region.”

He said that four million displaced Syrians are in need of help and the international community should focus on finding a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since 2011. Western powers and their regional allies -- especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey -- are reportedly supporting the militants operating in Syria.

More than 191,000 people have been killed in over three years of fighting in the war-ravaged country.

By Press TV

 

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