TEHRAN - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says only diplomacy and not military approaches can settle the five-year-old crisis in Syria.
“The Syrian crisis can be only resolved politically, and a solution to the Syrian crisis will not be achieved through military means,” Zarif said in a joint press conference with Norway's Foreign Minister Boerge Brende in Oslo on Monday.
Noting that Iran believes the conflict in Syria will be only resolved through a diplomatic mechanism, Zarif added that Iran’s four-point initiative can help find a solution to the Syrian crisis.
Iran has drawn up a four-point peace plan on the Syrian crisis, which calls for a national unity government, ceasefire, fighting terrorism and constitutional reforms in the violence-torn Arab nation.
Syria has been gripped by militancy since March 2011. UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura estimates that over 400,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
Importance of Iran-Norway ties in post-JCPOA era
The Iranian minister also stressed the importance of strengthening relations with Norway in different sectors after the implementation of the last year’s nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCOA), reached between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries.
In a Monday meeting with the president of Norway's parliament, Olemic Thommessen, Zarif said the two countries can boost cooperation in different fields including fishery and energy. (Presstv)