Putin: No End to Syria Crisis without Iran
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Moscow does not envisage any success in settling a prolonged crisis in Syria without Tehran’s role.
Russia believes that resolving the crisis in Syria will not meet success without Iran’s partnership, Putin said on Thursday, noting that any collaboration excluding Iran will not be sustainable.
He made the comments in a meeting with Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, after conclusion of the 12th annual meeting of Valdai International Discussion Club, held in Sochi.
Hailing Iran’s role in the fight against terrorism, particularly in Syria, Putin said Tehran-Moscow relations are developing.
He also voiced satisfaction that the disputes on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program were settled by exercising logic and negotiations.
For his part, Larijani praised Russia’s role in the course of the nuclear talks between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany).
The Iranian speaker also admired Moscow’s contribution to the settlement of conflicts in the Middle East region.
“We deem Russia’s role in the region and its efforts to establish peace and stability in the region effective and useful,” Larijani noted.
The meeting came after Russia began to take a more active role in the battle against the terrorist groups in Syria.
Since late September, Russia has been carrying out bombings against the ISIL terrorist group in Syria, after Russia's parliament granted President Putin authorization to deploy the country's air force abroad.
Syria has been entangled in civil war since March 2011. The ISIL Takfiri group now controls parts of the Arab country, mostly in the east.
In the past four and half years, more than 240,000 people have died in Syria -overwhelmingly civilians- and around 4 million Syrian people are now refugees in other countries. Around 8 million others have been displaced internally.