Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh on Tuesday stressed Jordan's firm stance towards the crisis in neighboring Syria and the need to put an immediate end to bloodshed there.
In a press conference held with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Salehi, who is on a working visit to Jordan, Judeh stressed the need to move towards a transitional phase in Syria that guarantees a comprehensive political settlement and preserves Syria's unity.
On his meetings with the visiting Iranian counterpart, Judeh added that the two sides stressed the need to exert efforts to end the crisis in Syria, describing Salehi's visit as an "opportunity to speak frankly on the need for dialogue, and for both parties to be part of a comprehensive solution to end the Syrian crisis that has left thousands killed."
Judeh expressed that Jordan disagrees on various regional issues with Iran, but "that does not prevent dialogue between the two countries.
"We hope Iran would play a positive role in the future to end the crisis in Syria, and that all of us ought to be part of the solution," Judeh said.
On his part, Iranian Foreign Minister Salehi said that his country's relations with Jordan are "at their best," yet expressed that there are detrimental events happening in the region and "it is natural that each country would have its own vision towards such events."
Salehi noted that the talks with his Jordanian counterpart were "frank," and they addressed pivotal developments in the region, including the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Syrian issues.
The Iranian official warned that negative repercussions of the Syrian crisis will reflect on the whole region, "no one knows what will happen and what are the results if a void is created in Syria."
"The Syrian crisis must be resolved peacefully in accordance with the will of the Syrian people," Salehi said, adding that Iran asked the Syrian opposition coalition to sit with the Syrian government and form a transitional government.
"We recognize the peaceful Syrian opposition, but not Al Nusra Front and Al Qaeda who are accused of bloodshed and grave desecration in Syria," the Iranian official said.
"We reject any settlement imposed from the outside, and we reject any foreign intervention in the region," Salehi added in the press conference.
Responding to a question about Iran's stance towards Israel's recent airstrike attack against Damascus, the Iranian official briefly remarked "Syria's neighbors ought to stand by their brothers in Damascus."
The Iranian top diplomatic expressed Iran's readiness to support Jordan financially to alleviate Jordan's burden in hosting Syrian refugees.
Regarding accusatory statements made by some Iranian officials towards Jordan, Salehi stressed that the official Iranian stance is expressed solely by the Grand Murshid, the President, and the Foreign Minister, adding that such statements do not reflect Iran's position towards Jordan.
On his part, Judeh said that Jordan requested an official denouncement to any statements made by Iranian figures who do not represent Iran's diplomatic stance.
On other regional issues, Jordan's Foreign Minister renewed his country's stance in rejecting Iran's interference in internal affairs of Arab countries, and against stances that may be construed as a threat to the security of Gulf Cooperation Council states, alluding to the islands conflicted on between the United Arab Emirates and Iran.
Jordan rejects Iranian interference in Bahrain, Judeh said, to which the Iranian counterpart responded by stressing that there is no Iranian interference in Bahrain, "Iran has stressed repeatedly the importance of the unity of Bahrain and its sovereignty, and Iran's respect of the government of Bahrain." Salehi added that King Hamad of Bahrain had requested assistance from iran to resolve the conflict with the Bahraini opposition.
Salehi disclosed that Iran is willing to sit on the negotiation table with the Bahraini government and the opposition there, but "I would go to Manama publicly, but the Bahraini Foreign Minister asked me to come secretly, which is a matter we refuse."
His Jordanian counterpart interrupted, stressing that "there are issues we disagree on, His Excellency the Iranian Foreign Minister expressed his country's perspective."
Judeh also expressed Jordan's "clear stance" towards the Iranian nuclear program and the need to resolve this issue through dialogue and diplomatic channels, "we do not want to see an arms race in the region, and reject anything that exacerbates tensions and instability in the region."
The Iranian Foreign Minister arrived in Amman on Tuesday on an official visit in which he will meet with Jordan's King Abdullah II and senior Jordanian officials. Salehi will inaugurate the new building of the Iranian Embassy in Amman, and is expected to hold a roundtable discussion with Jordanian journalists and columnists.
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