The Iranian Foreign Minister says Iran will not allow the West to topple the Beshar Assad regime.
Iranian state media report that Ali Akbar Salehi said in an interview: “The action of Western countries and a number of countries in the region against Syria is nothing but the blatant violation of agreements as well as divine and earthly values; they are hostile and one-sided actions against the government and people of Syria.”
Salehi condemned any form of military intervention or arming of the opposition forces of Syria and called for an immediate end to the massacre of the Syrian people by “terrorist groups.”
Iran, a close ally of the Beshar Assad regime, claims terrorist groups are responsible for the violence in Syria. Syrian opposition groups claim, however, that Syrian people are being killed by state forces.
Salehi condemned all international agreements against the Syrian regime, stressing that they are “against Syrian independence.” Salehi went on to add that such agreements are aimed at “increasing pressure” on Syria in order to “force a change in that country’s stance against Zionist occupiers and world arrogance.”
Salehi appears to be referring to the international support extended to a Syrian opposition coalition and the announcement by a number of countries that they recognize only this coalition as the legitimate representative of the people of Syria.
Salehi said: “The people of Syria have the right to choose their president and their system through elections, and no foreign country has the right to take this away from them.”
He called for inclusive dialogue between all the various forces in Syrian without any foreign intervention and he stressed that Iran supports dialogue between the Syrian regime and all national forces in Syria.
