Below is the full text of the statement attributable to the Spokesperson of the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura which was issued in Geneva following his trip to Tehran on Tuesday 21 July 2015:
Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura visited Teheran today (Tuesday 21 July 2015) where he met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Mohammad Javad Zarif, and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Arab-African Affairs, Mr. Hussein Amir Abdollahian.
During his meetings Mr. de Mistura underscored the urgency of a Syrian-led political solution to the conflict and exchanged views on how to proceed with a political process, with the support of the Security Council. The Special Envoy took good note of Minister Zarif’s and Deputy Minister Abdollahian’s analysis of the current situation in the region, and its impact on the conflict in Syria. He underscored the absence of a military solution to this conflict and recalled the imperative for all its parties to uphold the principle of the protection of civilians.
Mr. de Mistura’s consultations are part of a rolling process to seek views of all Syrian and relevant regional and international parties on the operationalization of the Geneva Communiqué. In this context, Mr. de Mistura continues to meet separately with regional stakeholders and members of the Security Council. The Special Envoy is working to finalize his proposals to the Secretary-General on a way forward to support Syrian parties in their search of a political solution to the conflict, in preparation for a briefing to the Security Council.