No transitional period in Syria: Deputy FM
Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad has expressed his country’s opposition to the idea of a "transitional period" in Syria.
Mekdad was quoted by the Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV as speaking in a meeting with Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran on Tuesday.
He said the Syrian government opposes a political transition sought by Western countries to end the four-year conflict in his country.
"We are talking about a national dialog in Syria and a broad-based government as well as a constitutional process. There is no [talk of a] transitional period in Syria," the Syrian official said.
He added that no official report has been received yet about a possible meeting between the Syrian government and opposition groups.
During their meeting which lasted six hours, the two officials exchanged views about political settlement of the Syria crisis.
They also examined the details of Iran’s diplomatic initiative which was recently presented to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
Amir-Abdollahian and his Syrian counterpart underscored the necessity of serious fight on terrorism.
They also reviewed the outcome of the recent Vienna talks with focus on respecting people’s choice and the role of President Assad.
Also on October 30, top diplomats from 17 countries, including Iran, as well as envoys from the United Nations and the European Union, also gathered in Vienna for talks over the Syrian conflict. It was the first time that the Islamic Republic attended such negotiations on Syria.
The participants agreed on respecting Syria’s unity and sovereignty as well as eradicating extremist groups operating in the Arab country. However, they remained at loggerheads over the role President Bashar al-Assad would play in Syria’s political process.
The foreign-backed militancy in Syria, which flared in March 2011, has so far claimed the lives of over 250,000 people and displaced nearly half of the country’s population within or out of its borders.
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