Iran: Annan's peace plan still alive
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E-mail Xinhua, August 10, 2012
Iran's Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said Thursday that the peace plan for Syria put forward by Kofi Annan is still alive although he has resigned from the post of the UN and Arab League's special envoy to the unrest-torn country.
Salehi made the remarks at a press conference after a meeting on Syria held here Thursday.
The meeting was aimed at finding a way within the framework of Annan's six-point peace plan to settle the Syrian crisis, said the Iranian foreign minister.
"The peace plan of Mr. Annan is still alive and with his resignation it (the plan) will not become extinct," he added.
Iran hopes that Annan's successor will be an "independent person like him," said Salehi.
Iran thinks that international community has the responsibility to solve Syria's crisis, provide assistance to the Syrian people in this regard and prepare the ground for dialogue between the Syrian government and opposition groups, he maintained.
"We hope countries concerned about the Syrian situation can gather together to settle the crisis in the country," he said, adding that regional countries and international community should join hands to solve the Syrian crisis through peaceful and diplomatic ways.
The Iranian foreign minister commented that the biggest obstacle hindering a peaceful solution to the Syrian problem is foreign intervention and the way to solve the Syrian crisis is non- intervention by "some countries."
Some countries, out of their own interests, do not want the Syrian crisis to be settled, which has made the issue become very complicated, he said, warning that intervention in Syria will cause disarray and spread the crisis to other countries, resulting in disastrous consequences.
Thinking that the Syrian government will give up under pressure is a "mistake," and Iran hopes regional governments to act wisely over the Syrian crisis, otherwise extremism may emerge in the country.
The international consultative meeting on Syria opened in Tehran Thursday with the slogan of "Stop Violence, National Dialogue."
On Thursday, Salehi said that the abducted Iranians in Syria are from all walks of life.
Some of the abducted Iranians may have retired from the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) or from other Iranian governmental departments, said Salehi in the conference.
Iranian pilgrims were abducted last Saturday by militants in the Syrian capital Damascus.
Every year, a large number of Iranian pilgrims visit Syria, Salehi said, adding that during the Syrian unrest Iran had stopped allowing the pilgrims to visit Syria.
Recently, as the situation in Syria gradually became quiet, Iran resumed to send pilgrims to the Arab state, said Salehi.
According to media reports, Syrian opposition claimed that the abducted Iranians were members of the Iranian army and IRGC.
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