Ahmadinejad Urges Negotiations, Elections in Syria
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he wants his allies in the Syrian regime to negotiate with the opposition for the staging of a free election, in an interview with Egyptian state television.
The two sides should "sit at the negotiations table to find a solution to the crisis, through mutual understanding," Ahmadinejad, who is on a visit to Egypt, said in the interview broadcast late Wednesday.
He said the preferred outcome would be "free elections, and the Syrian people are the ones who decide Syria's fate".
Iran is the main regional backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, while most Arab states support the opposition.
Syria has been ravaged by civil war that has killed an estimated 60,000 people in more than 22 months months, according to the United Nations.
Ahmadinejad, the first Iranian president to visit Egypt since the two countries severed ties after Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979, met Egyptian and Turkish leaders on Wednesday to discuss the Syrian conflict.
07 February 2013, 13:00
01
Ahmadinejad finally decides to deal with reality. Earlier he was threatening Israel. Some thank-you for Egypt and the Council after 30 years of separation.
If Iran wants any sort of support for the lifting of sanctions and the resumption of normalized relations with anybody they will calm their rhetoric and sign a nuclear agreement.
Those that now side with Iran have been subject to never ending Israel bashing and threats. The time for Iran to bend before they break and take the few allies they have left with them is right now.
07 February 2013, 13:25
00
Ahmadinajat does not decide Iran's policy toward Syria. The supreme leader does.
07 February 2013, 13:38
00
Ahmadinejad would not put forward the proposal without the consent of the supreme leader. He would however unleash threats against Israel to appease his base of support in Iran.
Ahmadinejad has been a PR disaster for Iran. His grasp of foreign policy has left Iran with no real allies what-so-ever. China and Russia will not back such a loose canon.
