Egypt reports Iran can be part of solution to Syrian crisis

Iran could be part of a solution to the Syrian crisis, Egypt's presidential spokesman Ehab Fahmi said Monday. Speaking at a press conference in Cairo, Fahmi said "Egypt considers Iran part of a solution to the Syrian crisis not part of the crisis, as some parties believes," terming Iran an " influential" country in the region. "Our communication with the Iranian side was reflected on our consensus over the necessity of reaching a political solution to the Syrian crisis," Fahmi said. He stressed anew that the Egyptian stance on the Syrian crisis is based on respecting the will of the Syrian people. Egypt supports an immediate end of violence in Syria, a resolution through negotiations between the opposition and the Syrian administration, he said. "All diplomatic communications run by Egypt with Russia, Iran, Turkey and any other international stakeholders aim at reaching a peaceful settlement for the Syrian crisis," Fahmi noted, commending the Russian initiative to hold an international conference on Syria. A timely settlement of Syria's two-year-old political conflict seems all the more unreachable, as Turkey and Israel, two neighbors of Syria, turned further against Damascus after feeling the spillover the Syrian crisis. Lately, Israel air raided several military targets inside Syria, while Ankara held that the deadly bombings at a Turkish border town over the weekend was masterminded by Damascus.