Russia reiterates Iran's role in settlement of crisis in Syria

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov once again underlined Iran's influential role in resolving the Syrian crisis, countering the US objections to Tehran's involvement. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry website, Lavrov said in an interview that certain Western states are making efforts to limit the participants in an international peace conference on Syria. "Among some of our Western colleagues, there is a desire to narrow the circle of external participants and begin the process from a very small group of countries in a framework which, in essence, would predetermine the negotiating teams, agenda, and maybe even the outcome of talks," Lavrov underlined. Lavrov said the Islamic Republic of Iran must participate in the conference that was proposed by Moscow and Washington last week. The Islamic Republic has welcomed the proposal and expressed optimism that Tehran would be a part of the peace process. On Tuesday, Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Reza Sajjadi and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov discussed bilateral ties and regional developments, specially Syria. During the meeting in Moscow, Sajjadi and Bogdanov underlined the need for bolstering and reinvigorating bilateral ties between Iran and Russia. The Iranian and Russian diplomats also called for a peaceful solution to the ongoing crisis in Syria. Bogdanov, who is also Special Representative of the Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Middle East affairs, appealed for fostering international cooperation for halting financial and military aids to the terrorists in Syria. The two sides underlined the need for holding negotiations on the basis of the Geneva Agreement on Syria. Iran and Russia have vast cooperation in different fields, specially in political and economic spheres. Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against Syrian police forces and border guards being reported across the country. Hundreds of people, including members of the security forces, have been killed, when some protest rallies turned into armed clashes. The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.