President Rohani Elaborates On Regional, Intl Issues In New York

New York, Sept 28, IRNA – Iranian President Hassan Rohani attended a press conference to answer question raised by international media-persons and reporters in New York on Friday evening. During my visit to New York I held separate meetings with different dignitaries, including presidents, prime ministers, foreign ministers, UN senior officials and etc., President Rohani told reporters at the press conference. The Iranian president recalled that he has also delivered different speeches in UN and its subcommittees. President Rohani also reflected on changing environment for potential talks with the US. The Iranian president said that after his meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon new hopes could be seen for the talks with worlds major six powers. Asked about his meeting UN Special Envoy on Syria Lakhdar Brahimi and that Iran will take part in the upcoming Geneva talks unintentionally, he said that the two sides discussed the dangerous situation of Syria. President Rohani underlined that the Syrians should decide their own fate. Iranian officials have repeatedly underlined that Tehran is in favor of negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition groups to create stability in the Middle Eastern country. Last November, Iran hosted a meeting between the representatives of the Syrian government and opposition to encourage them to start talks to find a political solution to their problems. The National Dialogue Conference kicked off work in Tehran mid November with the motto of No to Violence, Yes to Democracy. The meeting brought together almost 200 representatives of various Syrian ethnicity, political groups, minorities, the opposition, and state officials. Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against the Syrian police, border guards, statesmen, army and civilians being reported across the country. Thousands of people have been killed since terrorist and armed groups turned protest rallies into armed clashes. The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad./end