H.E. Mr. Hossein Panahiazar:

With regard to Syria, we believe that the outsiders' policy for regime change is not the way to go. We should let the Syrian people decide their own future. We are not saying that everything the Syrian Government is doing is right. We have been critical of it. At the beginning, the people were only demanding a degree of democracy, which should have been dealt with better. We have made it very clear that it is not acceptable for any government to use mass destruction against its own people. Any government that uses such tactics loses its legitimacy. We are very clear about that. At the same time, we have also asked the countries in the region not to help the armed groups there. The Syrian people are the ones who are suffering. Unfortunately, there is also a power struggle going on within the opposition. They want to gain as much ground as possible to shore up their bargaining position once negotiations begin. We hope that by stopping the arms supplies to the opposition groups and also pressurising the Government to stop using the military against the people, we will have a ceasefire and negotiations for a peaceful solution.