Velayati, who is the director of the Permanent Secretariat of the World Assembly of the Islamic Awakening, made the remarks on the sidelines of the first scientific conference of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran on Tuesday.
He also said, “What is certain is the fact that the Syrian government is a legitimate government, and if opposition groups have something to say, they should enter into peaceful negotiations.” “The Syrian government is the legal government of this country, and its efforts are directed toward reforms, and naturally it has taken some steps along these lines. Certain opposition groups are the mercenaries of foreigners and kill innocent people in order to implement the policy of the United States, Europe, Israel, and certain regional countries, which is aimed at overthrowing the Syrian government and breaking up the resistance front against the Zionists,” he said. “If the aim of the opposition is to (topple) the Syrian government, the Islamic Republic will defend Syria as a main link in the chain of resistance against the Zionists while it certainly advocates reforms in Syria,” added Velayati, who formerly served as foreign minister. On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi announced that Iran is ready to host negotiations between the Syrian government and the country’s opposition. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to hold a meeting with the Syrian opposition and invite them to Iran, and we are ready to pave the way for negotiations between the opposition and the Syrian government,” Salehi said. Dialogue could help resolve Syrian crisis On the sidelines of the conference on Tuesday, Salehi also said that dialogue between the opposition and the government within the framework of the six-point plan of Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League joint special envoy on Syria, is the way out of the Syrian crisis. Annan has put forward a six-point plan for ending the crisis in Syria, which calls for a UN-supervised ceasefire by all parties, the withdrawal of soldiers and heavy weapons from cities, and the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
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