Foreign Policy

UN Chief Hails Iran’s Drive to Help Resolve Syrian Crisis

TEHRAN (FNA)- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif praised Iran's commitment to the political solution of the Syrian crisis.

During the meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Zarif and Ban discussed the Syrian crisis, specially the recent Geneva II talks.

The UN secretary general welcomed Iranian foreign minister’s emphasis on Tehran’s preparedness to play a role in finding a political solution to the Syrian crisis.

The Geneva II conference ended without achieving any result on Thursday.

The second round of the international Geneva II Peace Conference between the Syrian government and opposition could start in Geneva on February 10, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Miqdad said.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said the US has failed to achieve its desired objectives in the Geneva II talks on Syria.

“The US logic, which was based on putting pressure on the Syrian opposition groups, could not yield favorable results,” Amir Abdollahian said on Thursday night.

He stressed that it was clear for analysts that the talks would not be successful, because the delegation representing the opposition was not selected accurately.

Amir Abdollahian pointed to Washington’s efforts to turn the outcome of the talks to its own benefit, and said, “The US cannot change the political sovereignty in Syria through psychological warfare and propaganda.”

On Wednesday, UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said there is a “quite large” gap between the rival sides in the ongoing Geneva 2 conference.

Syria has been grappled with a deadly turmoil since March 2011. The foreign-sponsored militancy in the Arab country has so far killed over 100,000 people and displaced millions of others.