Baku, Azerbaijan, September 29
By Dalga Khatinoglu - Trend:
Unlike Iran, Russia can play a key role in resolving the Syrian crisis, Arab Affairs expert Hassan Hashemian has said.
Russia can play a role to help formation of a transition government in Syria, that is, it can fill in for the void of military forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad so that a new constitution is formed and elections are held, the expert told Trend Sept. 29.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in a Sept. 28 speech said the Syrian case should be referred to the International Court of Justice with war crime charges, which is backed by the West, Hashemian noted.
Ban Ki-Moon for the first time called for the situation in Syria to be referred to the International Criminal Court during his speech at UN general Assembly meeting on Sept.28.
In his state of the world address to leaders from the U.N.'s 193 member states, Ban says "innocent Syrians pay the price of more barrel bombs and terrorism" and there must be no impunity for "atrocious" crimes.
However, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said during his speech at UNGA that the US is responsible for spreading terrorism in region. "Iran is ready to establish peace in Yemen and Syria, like its efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Iran supports majority rule. We regret that the national uprisings in the region were diverted by terrorists," he said.
Rouhani added, "Iran's willingness is pushing forward its peaceful policy in the region based on win-win principles".
Hashemian observed that Iran also wants Assad to continue his rule by all means.
It seems difficult to convince military officials and hardliners in Iran to let the country play a role in the Syrian transitional government, he said, noting that the Islamic Republic supports the idea of Assad remaining president.
US President Barack Obama recently called on Russia and Iran to cooperate on resolving the Syrian crisis.
However, Iran says the US is responsible for the crisis and fans the flame by supporting anti-Assad groups therefore it cannot be any part of a solution.
Edited by CN