World powers have realized Iran's "geopolitical weight" which needs to be drawn on to help defuse regional disputes and restore peace to the war-torn Middle East, a lawmaker says.
Mansour Haqiqatpour, deputy chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, also believes nothing beats democracy and people's involvement to help settle the current political crisis facing Syria, ICANA reported.
Highlighting the fact that Iran has never proposed a military approach to address Syria's challenges, Haqiqatpour asserted, "The international community should respect Syrians' views, and they themselves ought to make a decision about their own destiny."
Stressing that the international attitude toward Iran has become positive, he reiterated, "The ongoing political crisis cannot be settled unless Iran exercises its influence; moreover, international capacities should be utilized to pave the way for peace."
Underlining the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's request from Iran to persuade its ally Syria to reach a peaceful resolution of a more than four-year deadly conflict in the Arab country, Haqiqatpour said, "Our stance has always been clear from the beginning, and because Iran was not invited to the Syrian Civil War Peace Conference Geneva I and II to resolve the conflict, the negotiations bore no fruit."
During a recent meeting with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Ban stressed that "there is no military solution to the conflict and asked Iran to do its best in promoting a political solution."
