Ban touts 'crucial role' Iran has to play in region

UN secretary-general touches down in Tehran for Non-Aligned Movement summit, says he will press host on Syria settlement.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS
Ban Ki-moon, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Handout )
Ban Ki-moon, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Handout )
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon touted the "crucially important role" Iran has to play in the region Wednesday after touching down in Tehran for the Non-Aligned Movement summit.
"Iran has a very important role, a crucially important role to play in the region, particularly when it comes to the Syrian situation," Ban said. "I am going to discuss this matter with the Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Khamenei] and the President [Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] and other leaders."
After meeting with Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani, Ban said he would continue to press Iranian authorities to help settle the ongoing conflict in neighboring Syria. "I am here to tell the Iranian authorities that Iran can play an important role in the peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis," Ban said in a press conference, according to Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency.
Ban's comments came after a senior Iranian official said Tehran would ask developing nations attending the NAM summit to back its call for a ceasefire in Syria.
"Iran's proposal to the meeting of members of the Non-Aligned Movement to solve the Syria issue is to recommend a ceasefire and the implementation of national reconciliation talks in the country," deputy foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdullahian was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
Iran says the 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement summit in its capital proves US efforts to isolate it have failed. A resolution on Syria would help Tehran argue that its ties with Damascus are benign.
Tehran has steadfastly backed Assad since an uprising began last year, describing the president as a key part of its "axis of resistance" against Israel and Western influence in the Middle East.
Shi'ite Muslim Iran denies accusations it has helped Assad crush his opponents - mostly from the majority Sunni community. Assad is a member of the Minority Alawite faith, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.
Tehran blames the West and Sunni Muslim Gulf countries of fuelling Syria's civil war by supporting the rebels.
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Click here for full Jpost coverage of the Iranian threat
Iran supported a failed UN-Arab League peace plan and says it should be involved in future international efforts to end the bloodshed in Syria."Bashar Assad said that any step that comes from Iran in order to solve the problem in Syria is trustworthy and acceptable," said Alaeddin Boroujerdi, a senior parliamentarian visiting Syria this week.
"Any plan without Bashar Assad is destined to fail, just like up until now it has failed," Boroujerdi told Iran's Fars news agency, saying Assad had "defeated" the uprising.
Iran's proposal for a 3-month ceasefire has been presented for discussion by NAM foreign ministers, Abdullahian said, and its outcome will be presented at the end of the summit on Friday.
Egyptian president Mohammad Morsy - who is due to attend the summit as the first Egyptian leader in Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution - is also expected to lay out further details of his own plan for Syria.
Last week, he spoke of forming a contact group comprising Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to resolve the crisis, an initiative the Iranian leadership is keen to pursue.
"When Mr. Morsy comes to Tehran we'll see whether there will be other initiatives by NAM. We'll have to cross our fingers and see how things move," foreign ministry official Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh told state television on Tuesday.
But speaking to Reuters earlier this week, Morsy made a call for Assad to be removed from power, something Tehran would oppose.
Morsy's message could also prevent the normalization of relations between Cairo and Tehran. Diplomatic relations between the countries broke down over Egypt's support for the Shah and its peace agreement with Israel.
In the interview, Morsy avoided answering a question on whether he intended to upgrade Egypt's relations with Iran but indicated he would pursue a more balanced foreign policy in general.