2013/02/11

Iranian FM: Assad does not need Iranian fighter

Source : LBCI News

Syrian opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib urged President Bashar al- Assad on Monday to take a clear stance on his initiative for dialogue, adding that it was aimed at ending the bloodshed and to "help the regime leave peacefully".

Alkhatib, speaking after meeting Russian and U.S. officials in Germany, told al-Jazeera news channel that major powers have no vision for a solution the war in Syria.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said that Syria's government has no need of foreign fighters to quell the uprising.

"The army of Syria is big enough, they do not need fighters from outside," Salehi told a conference in Berlin when asked if Tehran was providing military assistance to Assad.

"We are giving them (Assad's government) economic support, we are sending gasoline, we are sending wheat. We are trying to send electricity to them through Iraq, we have not been successful," he added.

For his part, Iranian Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili said on Monday that Israel "will regret its aggression" against Syria.

During a press conference held in Damascus Jalili stressed that the “Zionist entity will regret the aggression done against Syria with the same remorse it experienced following its 33 day war against Lebanon, and its attacks against Gaza at the end of 2008 and in 2012.”

Following a meeting with Iranian, Russian, and US officials in Germany, the Syrian opposition leader Moaz Alkhatib said that he would accept negotiations with Bashar al-Assad's deputy but said talks must be based on the principle of the regime's departure.

Alkhatib told al-Arabiya news channel that he had asked Iran to deliver his negotiations offer to Assad's government.