Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari said foreigners should not decide on behalf of the Syrian people about the country's leadership, which is a "redline" for Iran.
In an interview with Fars News Agency in Tehran on Saturday, Ansari said Iran favors dialogue between the Syrian government and the opposition, as a means for preparing the ground for the Syrian people to make final decision on the fate of their country.
The spokesman explained that since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in 2011, Iran has upheld three principles in its efforts to help settle the issue.
"First, we believe that only the Syrian nation has the right to make decisions about Syria. Second, Iran is opposed to foreign intervention in Syria and third, it does not approve using terrorism as a tool to achieve political goals," he said.
Ansari explained that Iran has tried to ensure these principles are considered in the final statements of the talks held to resolve the Syria crisis.
Vienna hosted the first two rounds of Syria talks on October 30 and November 14 last year, while the third round of talks was held in New York on December 18. The next round of talks on Syria has been scheduled for January 25. "Based on these three principles, we conclude that the Syrian crisis has no military solution, while a political solution can be found only through Syrian-Syrian talks that are supposed to enable people to decide," Ansari said.
"Other players now agree with these principles … upheld in the final statements of the [previous rounds] of the Syria talks."
