'Iran supports Assad reforms in Syria'

21 June 2012 | 15:31 Code : 1903056 Latest Headlines

IRNA – Iran supports proposed reforms of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Deputy Foreign Minister for Africa-Arab Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Wednesday.

Speaking to the reporters, the official noted that Iran advocates the presence of Syria in the resistance line against the occupying force of the Zionist regime.

'Quite against the US, the Zionist regime and some Arabic countries' suppositions, Syria has passed the stage of security crisis; Tehran believes that reforms in some Muslim countries including Syria is no exception in the Islamic Republic foreign policy.'

'Iran has not pursued a double-standard policy toward Syria, Yemen and Bahrain; Tehran has always called for reforms and governments' reply to the peoples' demands and has always condemned all kinds of foreign interference in all these three countries.'

'Syria is under big discriminative pressures from outside countries because of its important geopolitical role in the region while the situation inBahrain is much more discriminatory.'

'On such conditions that the Syrian government had held a parliamentarian election, executed the country's new constitution and held a referendum, the government was xonstantly criticized by the west and in the meantime, the international community's silence toward the dissolution of Egypt's Parliament by an illegitimate military council as well as its silence toward the brutal killing of 120 civilians in Bahrain is questionable,' he added.

Pointing to the holding of Moscow summit on Syria and Iran, and Tehran's active presence there, the official noted that Iran, China and Russia would support the political solution proposed by the UN Special Envoy Koffi Annan.

'Since the Russians and the Chinese are well-informed about the west's anti-Syrian plots, the output of the Moscow Summit will be in favor of the Syrian nation and against the west's demands.'

Amir-Abdollahian concluded that the regional revolutions have been inspired by Iran's 1979 revolution and Tehran supports them.

Since the beginning of 2011, the Muslim world has witnessed popular uprisings and revolutions similar to what happened in Iran in 1979. Tunisia saw the overthrow of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in a popular revolution in January, which was soon followed by a revolution which toppled Hosni Mubarak in Egypt in February.

Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Yemen have since been the scene of protests against their totalitarian rulers, who have resorted to brutal crackdown on demonstrations to silence their critics.

Bahrain however, has experienced the deadliest clashes. Anti-government protesters have been holding peaceful demonstrations across Bahrain since mid-February, calling for an end to the Al Khalifa dynasty's over-40-year rule.

Syria has been experiencing unrests 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.

In October, 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 are seeking 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 stirring unrests in Syria once again.