Envoy: Iran Has Always Defended Syria’s Legitimate Govt

Paris, Sept 7, IRNA – Iran’s Ambassador to Paris Ali Ahani, in an exclusive interview with Radio France Info, said Iran has always supported Syrian nation and its legitimate government. Speaking with the French News Network on Friday, Ahani said that during eight-year imposed war with Iraq, Syria was among one of the few Arab countries which supported Iran and we have a very close cooperation with Syrian government and we will continue these ties. About using chemical weapons in Syria and accusations against Syrian government, Ahani said Irans stance on using chemical weapons is completely clear and we condemn use of chemical weapons by any one. He continued when Saddam Hussein used the weapons against Iraqi nation and Kurds, the US government closed its eyes, while now they pretend that they want to defend Syrian citizens. Ahani added that using chemical weapons, which we are absolutely opposed to, is different from the issue of who has used it? Documents and evidence declared by the west is fake upon experts views. He said we are waiting for the UN inspectors report, but who used the weapon is not clear at all. Syrian government has reassured us that they had no involvement in using chemical weapons against Syrian citizens and this is an important point. The host of the talk referred to statements attributed to Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani that the Syria government is responsible for this attack ; Ahani said that Rafsanjani is a political character who has his own viewpoints and has denied this fake video. Asked if Iran shows any reaction against possible US and France military attack on Syria, Ahani replied a possible military attack will make the situation more complicated and will postpone access to a political solution. The ambassador continued that the Syrian crisis has no military solution and that all opposition groups and the government should be persuaded to sit around negotiation table. Referring to recent interview of President Bashar al-Assad with a French paper in which he said Iran, Hezbollah and Syria have common interests, the Iranian senior diplomat in Paris said that naturally there are common points and interests. Ahani added that defending legitimate rights of Syrian nation is Irans goal and their sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity and independence are important issues for Tehran. About future talks on nuclear issue, the ambassador said there will be two rounds of talks. One with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which starts on September 27 and is related to technical cooperation between Iran and IAEA and the second one is with Group 5+1, date of which will be set after meeting between Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif and the EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton in New York. Whether there is any hope for any progress, Ahani answered positively, adding of course it depends on G 5+1 approach. If they follow a realistic approach, it is possible to reach a fair solution to remove possible concerns and to recognize Iranian legitimate rights. /end