Mr. Carl Bildt and Mr. Ali Akbar Velayati discussed developments in the region on Wednesday, where Swedish official hailed Iran’s effective role in bringing peace and its contribution to fighting terrorism. “Global public opinion has been disturbed by the scope of cruelty and crisis in Syria, and foreign intervention has contributed to complexity of the situation in war-torn country,” Bildt told Velayati.
Bildt who leads a delegation of EU Foreign Policy Council, believed that Syrian territorial integrity was a priority for the EU and the UN should seriously focus on diplomatic solutions to the crisis. “It is really difficult to distinguish terrorists from genuine opposition; there is need for a criterion by which it can be defined who is terrorist and who is not. Such distinction would largely help efforts in tackling the real terrorist groups and advance the diplomatic efforts,” Bildt told head of Strategic Research Council of the Expediency Council.
Mr. Velayati who was hosting the meeting, shared the view that Syrian territorial integrity should be respected as a central issue to all negotiations; “definitely, no military option would provide hope for effective solutions to the crisis in Syria, and a viable option would be seen in the horizon by securing the totality of Syria as a state,” he told the meeting. “The sheer diversity of terrorists coming from all over the world, and according to reports, from 80 countries, would threaten global peace; we believe foreign intervention should retreat to allow Syrian people to see clearly through the smoke to decide about their political future,” Velayati concluded, however after describing briefly Iran-Sweden relations as historical and enjoying regular exchanges of diplomatic missions.
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