An Iranian deputy foreign minister says more than 40 countries are expected to participate in the upcoming Friends of Syria Conference in Tehran, which aims to work out a peaceful settlement to the unrest in the Arab country.

During the conference, which will be held under the banner of “Political Solution - Regional Stability” on May 29, the representative of former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will submit Annan’s message to the participants, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said in a Sunday interview with Iranian Arabic-language satellite TV channel al-Alam.

Amir-Abdollahian, Iran's deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, added that the meeting seeks to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria.

He further expressed hope that a later conference due to be held in Geneva on Syria would also contribute to the fulfillment of the expectations of the Syrian people.

On May 7, Russia and the United States agreed in Moscow to convene an international conference on Syria, which will serve as a follow-up to an earlier Geneva meeting held in June 2012. The upcoming meeting will reportedly be held in June.

Amir-Abdollahian said, “What we in Tehran and international parties in Geneva 2 [conference] will do should be such as to provide the opportunity for the Syrian people to determine their own future.”


“In Tehran no one will make decisions for the Syrian people and neither is anyone in Geneva in a position to decide for this people,” he added.

Iran has previously played host to meetings aimed at finding a peaceful resolution to the crisis in Syria. Tehran has repeatedly expressed its opposition to any foreign intervention in Syria's internal affairs, stressing that inclusive dialog and national reconciliation as well as free elections are the key to resolving the unrest.

The unrest in Syria erupted over two years ago and many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the violence.


HK