IRNA – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Saturday Iran as the biggest victims of chemical weapons denounces use of such arms by anybody as well as any aggressive move under excuse of chemical attacks.


In a joint press conference with his Russian and Turkish counterparts, he pointed out that countries supporting Saddam in his use of chemical weapons in the past cannot today claim to be opponents of such arms.

“It is crystal clear that such claims are raised for political purposes and their strike against Syria caused a delay in political process in Syria,” he said.

Zarif hoped that international impartial inspection of site allegedly being hit by the chemical weapons would soon bear fruits.

Noting that Astana Process and fidning political solution based on the decisions made in Black Sea resort city of Sochi should be supported by the international community, he said that Astana Process is the only move which can lead to a fair and sustaining peace through political dialogue between the government and opponents.

Iran has from the very beginning of the crisis announced that Syrian crisis has no military solution and only political settlement will work in the country, he said, adding that today, all the world has accepted the reality and it should also accept that military purposes cannot be met on negotiating table.

Hailing Astana Process as a correct approach, he said that it has gone ahead with the efforts of all the players and will continue in May involving all conflicting sides and three guarantor states.

The three guarantor states at the levels of leaders and foreign ministers will continue their backing to the common principles including supporting sovereignty, territorial integrity, political independence and national unity of Syria and rapid settlement of Syrian crisis, he said.

He called on the international community to lend a helping hand to Syria's reconstruction as a humanitarian duty and not as a way to impose political demands.

Zarif also hailed the Syrian nation’s resistance against the Daesh and Al-Nusra terrorist groups, saying that the people defeated the two major global threats.

Zarif arrived in Moscow on Saturday morning to attend the trilateral meeting of the Iranian, Russian and Turkish foreign ministers on Syria.