A senior Foreign Ministry official hailed Moscow's campaign to help Syrians fight terrorism, describing political efforts "a necessary parallel move to solve the crisis."
Pointing to the negotiations on the Syria crisis among Russia, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey in Vienna on Friday, Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said all sides should try to prepare the ground for the Syrian people to decide their destiny, ISNA reported him as saying.
"Those who have played a negative role by supporting terrorists now should only seek constructive actions," he said, stressing the need for controlling borders by Syria's neighbors to stem the movements of militants.
Backing UN efforts to restore peace to Syria, Iran will contribute to the political process through consultations with the concerned parties, including the European Union and regional states, he noted.
In recent weeks, Syrian forces have made gains in the fight against militants, backed by the Russian air support which started in late September.
In a new development, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Saudi King Salman reaffirmed their commitment to supporting what they called moderate Syrian opposition in their meeting in Riyadh on Saturday.
On Tehran's efforts to help find a political solution, Amir Abdollahian pointed to his recent trip to London, in which he discussed regional crises with British officials.
"In the meetings, we underscored the need to have a clear understanding of the situation in the Middle East to be able to put political initiatives into practice."
Adoption of military approaches to deal with problems has only complicated matters, resulting in the growth of extremism which has triggered the refugee crisis affecting the region and Europe, he said.
Praising the willingness expressed by the European Union for more consultations on how to rectify the situation, he said taking a realistic view of regional challenges by all sides would pave the way for finding practical solutions.
