REPORT: Iran's FM discusses peace talks with Syria's Assad

Syria's president and Iran's foreign minister on Wednesday discussed next week's United Nations conference that aims to resolve Syria's three-year conflict, calling on regional nations to "fight terrorism."           

Iran is President Bashar Assad's strongest regional ally, extending him billions of dollars in credit since the crisis began in March 2011. The United States, Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Persian Gulf suspect Tehran is also shipping him weapons.            

Syria's state news agency SANA said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed Tehran's support for Assad's government as it heads to the conference. Zarif's visit comes ahead of the Jan. 22 conference in Montreux, Switzerland.              

The U.N., which is hosting the talks, has not yet invited Iran to attend, although a final decision has yet to be made. The prospects for success at the talks appear slim at best, however.            
Assad warned against what he described as the dangers of Saudi Arabia's brand of purist Islam, telling SANA: "Wahabi ideology now threatens the whole world, not only regional states."          

"The Syrian people and others in the region now know the dangers of this terrorist ideology and everyone should participate in confronting and eradicating it," Assad was quoted as saying.               

Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia, archrival of Shiite Iran, is among the strongest backers of Syria's opposition fighters who are trying to end four decades of Assad family rule in Syria. Assad belongs to the minority Alawite sect, an off-shoot of Shiite Islam, while most opposition fighters are Sunnis.            

The agency quoted Zarif as saying that "countries of the region should unite to confront the challenges and fight terrorism in order to achieve security and stability." 

For his part, Syria's deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad said the intelligence services of some Western countries opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have visited Damascus to discuss security cooperation with his government.

"I will not specify which countries but many of them have visited Damascus, yes," the deputy minister, Mekdad, said in an interview with the BBC. 

Mekdad said that the contacts appeared to show a rift between the political and security authorities in some countries opposed to Assad.

Western powers have supported the opposition with rhetoric but have backed away from material aid as al Qaeda-linked groups take advantage of a power vacuum in rebel-held regions.

Western countries are worried about the presence in rebel ranks of foreign Islamist militants who have travelled to Syria to join a near three-year-old struggle to topple Assad.

REUTERS/AP


To watch Nicole Hajal's report, please click on the VIDEO above