Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, accused the West, particularly the United States, that it was the reason of the failure of international mediator Kofi Annan mission in Syria, the scene of bloody clashes for the past 16 months, according to AFP. “The West and some countries in the region did not want Annan to succeed in his mission. Every time he tried to solve the crisis, the West created barriers,” said Salehi, whose country is an ally of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
In his opinion, Annan’s resignation from the position of UN and Arab League envoy for Syria, announced Thursday, was caused by U.S. intransigence in the UN Security Council, not by Moscow and Beijing, allies of the Syrian regime, as Washington says. “The lack of unity in the Security Council raised by Annan doesn’t concern Russia or China. Americans diverted (the accusation) to blame Moscow and Beijing and try to impose their point of view because they would not tell the truth,” Salehi appreciated.
Annan’s peace plan was accepted by Syria and other countries in the region but according to Iranian minister, the countries that support the rebels “did not allow Mr. Annan to implement the initiative.” He expressed hope that Annan’s successor will act in an “independent” manner, as Annan did, and warned that any mediator who will be on Western countries’ side “will fail because the other party will not want to cooperate with them.”
In turn, the ultra-conservative Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said in Tehran that “the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar are working together to overthrow the Syrian regime”. Earlier, a spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Affairs, quoted by the IRNA press agency, said that Annan’s resignation is the result of “interference” of states which he did not name and hinted that Iran could play a greater role in the settlement. He didn’t name these states, but Tehran accuses Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey of providing arms to the insurgents in Syria, in complicity with the United States and Israel.
United States and other Western countries accuse Tehran of supplying weapons and military expertise to the Syrian regime forces.
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