Russia, Iran agree Syrian crisis must be settled without foreign intervention

Russia and Iran agreed Tuesday that the Syrian crisis should be settled as soon as possible without foreign military interference. The settlement should be based on no other alternative but the Geneva communique on Syria, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said during talks with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian. Speaking of Russia's proposal to deploy its peacekeepers on the Golan Heights, the Iranian diplomat said that issue should be referred to Damascus. "The Syrian regime should be asked about that, not us," he said, adding that Syria stands able to protect its territorial integrity in the case of an external armed attack. The Iranian diplomat added that instability in Syria negatively affected security in the Golan Heights occupied by Israel and monitored by the UN Disengagement Observe Force since 1974. "In such a situation it is impossible to guarantee security of both Golan Heights and Israel," Amir-Abdollahian said. The Iranian diplomat's visit to Moscow came as Russia highlighted the need for Iran's presence in the Geneva conference on Syria, stressing that the event would not bear fruit in the absence of an Iranian delegation. Amir-Abdollahian confirmed that Iran "received an verbal invitation to the conference 10 days ago."