Ansari After Meeting Bassil: Political Solution in Syria Important to Entire Region 16 Jul 2018 Lebanon - Caretaker Foreign Minister, Gebran Bassil, held talks Monday with the special envoy of the Iranian President, Assistant to the Iranian Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hussein Jabri Ansari, who reiterated the Islamic Republic's support for the bilateral relations between Iran and Lebanon. "The Islamic Republic of Iran has and will always support the special fraternal ties between the two people and governments; and it is carrying on efforts to promote the level of cooperation between the two countries in all fields," Ansari said. "We highly value Lebanon, which constitutes a model of solidarity and resistance," he added. The envoy indicated that talks with Bassil touched on Iran's endeavors to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis, stressing that the Syrian refugees' safe return to their homeland is a top priority for the Islamic Republic. "We cannot speak of a conclusive solution to the crisis in Syria without the [refugees] return to their country," he said. "Speeding up the political solution is important not just for Syria, but for the entire region," he underlined. In response to a question on the Iranian nuclear deal, Ansari indicated that intensive political negotiations took place between the Islamic Republic and other states to face the US unilateral policy. "Iran's partners have confirmed their will to preserve the nuclear deal," he said. "There is real will to commit to the deal." On the Iranian presence in Syria, Ansari explained that there were Iranian consultants working in southern Syria upon an official request by the Syrian government to help it confront terrorism. "The term of their presence is determined according to the needs of the Syrian state." Turning to Lebanon, Ansari hoped that "all the political forces will manage to reach political agreement to form the new government." "Meeting with the Lebanese officials and Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is not something new; cooperation and rapprochement have always existed, and shall keep on existing," he added. Separately, Bassil met with chief of of the European Union's Election Observation Mission, Elena Valenciano, who handed her host the final report on EOM's assessment for the course of the Lebanese parliamentary elections. |