Publish Date: 2 September 2013 - 19:57

KhabarOnline: Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says the US President Barack Obama doesn’t want a new war in the region, as Syria is still under the shadow of war due to an alleged chemical attack near Damascus.

Speaking to Khabaronline news agency, Zarif asserted that the military intervention is not a solution to the Syrian crisis and that all efforts should be taken to prevent the potential war in the Arab country.

The Iranian Foreign Minister cited Obama’s recent speech about a possible attack against Syria and said it is clear the Americas do not want a new war, adding he also believes that even President Obama himself is not in favor of the military intervention in Syria.

“I think a group of warmongers and bellicose are pushing him [Obama] into a war which he doesn’t want and he doesn’t need,” Zarif said. “So common sense says that Obama is caught in a trap set by extremists.”

Iran’s foreign minister described the extremists as the ones whose policies and atrocities have failed in Syria during the past two and half years and now are trying to arrange a US-led military action in Syria to change the balance of power in the country to their own benefits.

Pointing out that the Syrian crisis has no military solution, Zarif said that the war merely escalates the crisis and increases the number of casualties and victims.

He said: “I don’t know why those crying on TV for the victims, whom all of us should cry for, don’t understand that continuing this game would only increase the number of victims. If they cry for the victims, so why they don’t make their supporters and allies to put down their weapons and sit at the negotiation table? Why they are against any political solution and severely beating on the war drum? Why they don’t stop provocation and their support for the militants and persuade them to attend a political process to end the conflict?”

"They are the ones who are pushing US government to launch a war and Obama is falling into a trap set by several groups with different interests," Zarif said, raising hope that “Obama and his administration not fall into such a clear trap for their own interests and try to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis.”