Rouhani: Free elections can remove ambiguities in Syria

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani once again renewed Iran’s full support for a political solution to the Syrian crisis, and threw his backing behind holding free and fair elections in the Muslim country. “Holding Free and fair elections in Syria can remove many ambiguities,” President Rouhani said in a meeting with Syrian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Jihad Al-Laham in Tehran on Wednesday. He noted that it is very important for Iran that Syria attains stability soon and becomes prepared for holding such elections. President Rouhani reiterated that Iran supports holding free elections in Syria. The Syrian parliament speaker, for his part, hailed the Iranian president’s proposal of a World Against Violence and Extremism (WAVE) which was unanimously adopted as a UN resolution late in 2013. He said that the resolution could have a positive impact in countering terrorism in the region and the world. Iranian officials have repeatedly underlined that Tehran is in favor of negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition groups to create stability in the Middle Eastern country. In November 2012, Iran hosted a meeting between the representatives of the Syrian government and opposition to encourage them to start talks to find a political solution to their problems. The National Dialogue Conference kicked off work in Tehran mid November with the motto of 'No to Violence, Yes to Democracy". The meeting brought together almost 200 representatives of various Syrian ethnicities, political groups, minorities, the opposition, and state officials. The conflict in Syria started in March 2011, when sporadic pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following the intervention of western and regional states. The unrest, which took in terrorist groups from across Europe, the Middle-East and North Africa, has transpired as one of the bloodiest conflicts in recent history. As the foreign-backed insurgency in Syria continues without an end in sight, the US government has boosted its political and military support to Takfiri extremists. Washington has remained indifferent to warnings by Russia and other world powers about the consequences of arming militant groups.