Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in a meeting of the joint Iran-Oman strategic committee, which was held in Muscat on Saturday.
“Iran’s approach toward the Syrian crisis centers around a cessation of violence and killings in Syria, no foreign political and military intervention, the protection of the Bashar al-Assad government, and the necessity of conducting national reforms,” Amir-Abdollahian stated.
“Iran-Syria relationship is strategic, and we make efforts so that current problems could be resolved through dialogue,” he added.
He said that foreign countries, instead of giving time to the Syrian government to conduct promised reforms, have put Damascus under pressure, and, through arming the opposition groups, are trying to portray the situation as highly unstable and “prevent a realization of people’s real demands through legal and peaceful channels.”
The Iranian diplomat went on to say that Iran has always called on the Syrian government to enter dialogue with the opposition groups, but “the reality is that there is no serious and unified opposition in Syria, and there are great differences among the opponents of the government.”
Amir-Abdollahian also thanked Oman’s “fair, moderate, positive, and balanced” stance toward regional developments, including the Syrian crisis.
For his part, Al-Harethi, the Omani deputy foreign minister, called Iran a geo-strategically important country with which Muscat share common views on regional and international issues.
Harethi said that Oman and Iran share common views on regional problems and “we believe that negotiation and not military pressure is the solution to the crises in Syria and Bahrain.”
The Omani official stated that the developments in Syria are different from those of Tunisia and Egypt because “in Syria the majority of people back the government, and the insurgencies mostly occur in Syria’s border areas.”
He also said that Oman views developments in Bahrain as a national issue and is of the view that “foreign intervention will further complicate Bahrain’s problems.”
The Omani diplomat also expressed hope that Kofi Annan, as a leading international figure, would succeed in its efforts to end the crisis in Syria peacefully.
PA/EP
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MNA