الرئيسية
Iran on Monday
said it backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's decision to start
implementing an Arab League plan to quell the violence in his country by
finally letting in observers.
But Tehran suggested it was not entirely happy with the pressure Arab
states had brought to bear on Damascus, with President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad saying their action towards Syria was "like a joke."
Iran's deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, Hossein
Amir Abdolahian, told the state Arabic language television network
Al-Alam that "Iran's official stance regarding Syria and the Arab League
plan is that whatever Bashar al-Assad deems as acceptable, we would
approve of and accept."
He added that the Arab League plan "contains many of the points Iran
was also looking at," even if not all concerns were addressed.
Ahmadinejad, though, criticised Arab nations for the way they had been treating Syria, Iran's principal ally in the Middle East.
"Certain regional countries carry out acts which Iran considers to be
more like a joke," the official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as
saying.
"Some regional countries, which have never held an election, have
come together and pass resolutions against another country saying 'Why
don't you hold an election'?" he said.
Syria on Monday signed an agreement to allow foreign observers in to
monitor the implementation of the Arab League plan designed to halt nine
months of bloodshed that started when security forces cracked down on
pro-democracy protesters.
The plan calls for a complete halt to the violence, the release of
those detained as a result of recent events and the complete withdrawal
of the military from towns and residential districts.
Syria was suspended from Arab League meetings and subjected to a raft
of sanctions when it initially refused to let in the observers.
said it backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's decision to start
implementing an Arab League plan to quell the violence in his country by
finally letting in observers.
But Tehran suggested it was not entirely happy with the pressure Arab
states had brought to bear on Damascus, with President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad saying their action towards Syria was "like a joke."
Iran's deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, Hossein
Amir Abdolahian, told the state Arabic language television network
Al-Alam that "Iran's official stance regarding Syria and the Arab League
plan is that whatever Bashar al-Assad deems as acceptable, we would
approve of and accept."
He added that the Arab League plan "contains many of the points Iran
was also looking at," even if not all concerns were addressed.
Ahmadinejad, though, criticised Arab nations for the way they had been treating Syria, Iran's principal ally in the Middle East.
"Certain regional countries carry out acts which Iran considers to be
more like a joke," the official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as
saying.
"Some regional countries, which have never held an election, have
come together and pass resolutions against another country saying 'Why
don't you hold an election'?" he said.
Syria on Monday signed an agreement to allow foreign observers in to
monitor the implementation of the Arab League plan designed to halt nine
months of bloodshed that started when security forces cracked down on
pro-democracy protesters.
The plan calls for a complete halt to the violence, the release of
those detained as a result of recent events and the complete withdrawal
of the military from towns and residential districts.
Syria was suspended from Arab League meetings and subjected to a raft
of sanctions when it initially refused to let in the observers.