Tehran Welcomes Russia-US Plan on Syria, Rules Out Any Military Solution

Iran welcomes the conditional ceasefire agreement in Syria brokered by Russia and the United States as a plan that ends the humanitarian plight and promotes political settlement in the country, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari said Thursday.

Ansari said his four-hour meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov in Moscow on Wednesday was "useful and all-encompassing."

"We discussed Syria, including issues related to the ceasefire. Iran since the beginning of the Syrian crisis believed that it has no military solution. It should be ended by means of political dialogue," Ansari told RIA Novosti.

The 48-hour ceasefire agreement welcomed by Iran went into force at sundown Monday after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US State Secretary John Kerry’s September 9 announcement in Geneva.

"This humanitarian catastrophe should be stopped. We are also in favor of full cooperation in the fight against terrorism. Therefore, any plan that will facilitate the end of bloodshed in Syria and will take into account these three components will of course be supported by Iran," Ansari stressed.

He added the subject of Russia’s brief use of the Hamadan airbase in western Iran for its airstrikes in Syria last month was not broached during the consultations with Bogdanov.