President Aoun Hails Iran’s Efforts in Syria

Date: 16 July 2018 - 21:33

News ID: ۵۵۱۸۵

BEIRUT (Dispatches) -- A high-level Iranian envoy discussed Iran’s position on the nuclear deal and the country’s efforts to reach a political agreement to the Syrian crisis, in separate meetings Monday with President Michel Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri.
Hussein Jaberi Ansari, senior assistant to the Iranian foreign minister, was conveying a message from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a statement from Aoun’s office reported.
Jaberi Ansari spoke of the latest developments related to the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from the agreement earlier this year and the implications of that decision.
Aoun expressed his regret at the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement, which he said "Lebanon considered a cornerstone of stability in the region that contributes to making it a zone free of weapons of mass destruction.” He welcomed the sustained commitment of other nations to the deal.
The president said that the U.S. withdrawal "has negative repercussions on security and stability in the region.”
Aoun went on to praise the "efforts exerted by Iran to help end the Syrian crisis,” and said this would facilitate the return of Syrian refugees to their country.
After his meetings with Aoun and Berri, Jaberi Ansari met with caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, after which Ansari said that the Syrian crisis could not be considered definitively resolved until Syrian refugees returned to their homeland. "It is a priority for us to resolve the file of the displaced Syrians and ensure their safe return to their country," Jaberi Ansari said.