Itar-Tass
September 13, 2013
Iran’s President: Russia’s initiative over Syria may relieve world from war threat in region
Shanghai Cooperation Organization
Members (Green): China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
Observers (Blue): Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan
Dialogue Partners (Purple): Belarus, Sri Lanka and Turkey
BISHKEK: Russia’s initiative to place the chemical weapons in Syria under international control may relieve the world from the threat of a new war in the region.
“Russia’s initiative in Syria and the steps of the Syrian leadership in this sphere gave hope that we will be able to avert a new war in the region,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said at a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Bishkek on Friday.
Iranian nuclear issue
SCO leaders have adopted the Bishkek declaration on Friday.
“The SCO member states express concern over the situation around Iran and its nuclear program. They believe threats of use of military force and unilateral sanction measures of some states against the country are unacceptable,” the document said.
Confrontation scenario is fraught with serious and unpredictable consequences for the entire region and the world and security on the whole.
SCO states believe there is no alternative to peaceful resolution of the problem and call on all countries to have a maximum responsible approach and restraint and not to make statements and not to take actions leading to further confrontation escalation.
It is possible to relieve all the anxieties only by peaceful means on the basis of principles of gradualness and reciprocity, the SCO leaders noted in the declaration.
Meanwhile, Hassan Rouhani noted at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia is capable of contributing to the solution of the problems around the Iranian nuclear program.
“Russia has taken steps in this sphere in the past, too, and now it has better opportunities for new steps,” he said.
“As for the nuclear problem, we’d like to resolve it as early as possible in the format of international norms,” Rouhani said.
Middle East and North Africa
SCO member states are in favour of peace and stability in the Middle East and North Africa without external influence, including military intervention, not sanctioned by the UN Security Council.
“The SCO member states express deep concern over the developments in the Middle East and North Africa, and in Syria, particular, and come out in favour of peace, stability, prosperity and progress in the region without external, including military intervention, not authorised by the UN Security Council,” the Declaration says.
The document stresses that the SCO member counties support the earliest solution to the Syrian crisis by the Syrians themselves with respect for the republic’s sovereignty, cessation of violence in the country, the launching of a broad political dialogue between authorities and the opposition without preconditions on the basis of the Geneva communique.
The SCO member states also support efforts to convene an international conference to lay the foundation for reconciliation and normalization of the situation in Syria and against unlawful actions aimed at further militarization of the internal conflict in the country.
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