Syria, Iran discuss Palestinian conditions

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African affairs Mohammad Reza Baqeri conferred yesterday with high ranking Syrian officials on the latest developments in the Middle East region and the Palestinians in particular.

The Iranian envoy reviewed regional developments in separate meetings with the Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Shara, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem and Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmad Arnoud.

Expressing concern with the prevailing crisis in Palestinian territories, he underlined that the "Zionist regime would be the eventual winner in the current crisis."

It is vital to exercise vigilance to thwart the plots of the enemies who try to abuse the current crisis in Palestine, he said.

The issue of Palestine is on top of Iran's agenda, he said adding that Iran has always supported the cause of Palestine and its people. Palestinians should use their weapons to fight Israel and not against their Palestinian brothers, he underlined.

The issue of Palestine would only be resolved through negotiations, Baqeri said.

Baqeri said that a solution should be found for the "deplorable" Palestinian conflict. "We should try to find a solution to the problem," said Baqeri to a question on whether Iran has taken any initiative on the problem.

Baqeri told reporters following a meeting with Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Shara, "We are involved in consultation and would put forward our suggestions after summing up and assessing the views of different Palestinian groups and Syrian friends."

He said ongoing Palestinian and Lebanese events have been taken into consideration in the consultations.

In the talks, Syrian officials underlined that the current conflict among the Palestinians could be very dangerous and called the need for Iran and Syria to adopt an identical stand in dealing with the issue.

Constant exchange of visits between high ranking Iranian and Syrian officials prove that there is no discord between the two countries, underlined the two sides in the meetings.

Baqeri who arrived in Damascus on Friday night also met Palestinians officials to help resolve the current conflict. In those meeting, they unanimously underlined the need to forge unity among Palestinian groups.