Mr. Ali Akbar Velayati, also an adviser to the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, addressed a group of Syrian tribal leaders on Wednesday. He told a press conference that Syrian government had been committed to peace talks in Geneva where Mr. Bashar al-Jafari represented Syrian government; however, Mr. Velayati blamed a faction of the opposition backed by Riyadh, also called Riyadh group, was the major party responsible for failure of talks in Geneva; “given some developments in Aleppo in northwestern Syria, these groups have invested much hope in sabotaging political talks to secure some grounds in the field; they systematically lack political moral in negotiations and would shrug off any failure of negotiations even for the second time,” Mr. Velayati said. “Thus, we see frequent violation of the ceasefire in Aleppo fronts.”
“They should be wise enough to abandon the idea of overthrowing Assad and opt for negotiation table; no country would be eligible to decide on behalf of Syrian people about their political future; as long as the warring factions remain committed to this guiding principle, Syrian government will be present in negotiation table to advance talks,” Velayati told the meeting of tribal leaders. “
On a question of Saudi’s sabotaging of Hajj pilgrimage delegations by Iranians, Velayati said that Saudis should facilitate the religious ritual out of respect to pilgrims; “as a government responsible for and guardian of the Holy Shrines, Saudi Arabia should prepare the conditions for pilgrimage for all Muslims especially Iranians,” he concluded.
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