Iranian: No military solution envisaged for Syria

Iranian Ambassador to Rome Mohammad Ali Hosseini voiced Tehran's strong opposition to any military solution to the Syrian crisis, saying unrests in the Muslim country should be resolved through political and democratic means. "The developments in Syria have no military solution and the regional and international efforts should more than ever focus on a political solution based on talks and acceptance of responsibility (by both sides)," Hosseini said in an interview with Italy's channel one radio. He described Syrian-Syrian talks as the best solution to the crisis in Syria, and said, "The agreements which will be reached in the meeting should be accepted by all." Hosseini underlined that Iran supports any regional and international plan and initiative which supports a political solution of the crisis and will take effective and constructive steps to help implement such a plan. Syria has been experiencing unrest since March, 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against the Syrian police, border guards, statesmen, army and the civilians being reported across the country. Thousands of people have been killed since terrorist and armed groups turned protest rallies into armed clashes. The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad. In October, 2011, calm was eventually restored in the Arab state after President Assad started a reform initiative in the country, but Israel, the US and its Arab allies sought hard to bring the country into chaos through any possible means. Tel Aviv, Washington and some Arab capitals have been staging various plots in the hope of increasing unrests in Syria. The US daily, Washington Post, reported that the Syrian rebels and terrorist groups battling the President Bashar al-Assad's government have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, a crime paid for by the Persian Gulf Arab states and coordinated by the United States. The newspaper, quoting opposition activists and US and foreign officials, reported that Obama administration officials emphasized the administration has expanded contacts with opposition military forces to provide the Persian Gulf nations with assessments of rebel credibility and command-and-control infrastructure.