Syrian Foreign Minister condemns US aid for rebels

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said on Saturday that some countries are calling for President Bashar Assad’s step down, but this is considered as an intervention in the Syrian internal issues.         

In a press conference held with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moualem in Tehran, Salehi said that the Syrian crisis has become “wide” and the Syrian people are suffering at a time foreign countries are supporting the opposition.                        

In this context, Salehi said that the Syrian people are the ones to decide their fate and stressed that foreign countries should stop supporting the opposition in order to maintain the Syrian stability.                         

Minister Salehi added that “it is only by dialogue that the Syrian crisis gets solved” and called on the government to ensure security.                               

For his part, the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem said that his visit to Teran is “to express the Syrian people’s thankfulness to the Iranian people and leadership” and pointed out that Syrian is engaged in a crisis that “the entire world is participating in”.       

Moualem added that the Syrian people are aware that the only political solution to the crisis is via a comprehensive dialogue and stressed that the regime is facing al-Qaida linked groups.           

Syria’s FM Moualem mentioned that joint efforts to stop violence begin by exerting pressure on Turkey and Qatar that are supporting, funding, and arming terrorist groups.                       

In regards to the US, al-Mouallem condemned its move to give non-lethal aid to rebels who are fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad, and accused Washington of “double standards”.              

"I do not understand how the United States can give support to groups that kill the Syrian people," he said.             

"This is nothing but a double-standard policy; one who seeks a political solution does not punish the Syrian people," he said.