Iran’s Khamenei Calls for Syrian Elections to Solve Crisis

Assad is facing an insurgency from a variety of mainly Sunni Arab militant groups in a bloody four-year civil war that is estimated to have killed more than 250,000 people.

“First, war and unrest should end so that the Syrian people can elect anyone they want in a peaceful and calm environment”, Mr. Khamenei said.

Khamenei also took aim at wider USA policy in the Middle East.

“The Americans seek to impose their own interests, not solve problems”.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei says the United States is behind a major part of the existing problems in the region, not a solution to them.

For the first time, the meeting brought together all the main outside players in the crisis, including Russian Federation and Iran, key allies of the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The Syrian regime and the opposition were not represented.

Iran’s supreme leader dismissed Sunday the prospect of cooperation with the USA on regional issues, saying the latter’s support for Israel highlighted the incompatible policies of the two countries.

Leader’s address focused on expounding “foreign policy principles well-documented in the Constitution and the requirements emanating from these principles, ‘ and Iran’s ‘principled and solid” solutions to important issues in the region notably in Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain.

Khamenei said the military and financial support given to rebels fighting Assad, principally from Gulf states and the USA, must be stopped.

Ayatollah Khamenei said the impact of different administrations only goes as far as the tactics and executive initiatives of the country’s foreign policy strategies.

Iran s deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian told the official IRNA news agency: “We warn Adel al-Jubeir not to test the Islamic Republic of Iran s patience”.

He was reacting to the top Saudi diplomat’s remarks on Saturday that Riyadh hoped Tehran would use additional earnings that it would make following the implementation of its July nuclear agreement with world powers, to develop its economy “rather than for aggressive policies”.