28-04-2024 07:37 PM Jerusalem Timing

Salehi Welcomes Direct Talks with US, Syria opposition

Salehi Welcomes Direct Talks with US, Syria opposition

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Monday that Tehran would continue talks with the Syrian opposition following a preliminary meeting at the weekend.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar SalehiIranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Monday that Tehran would continue talks with the Syrian opposition following a preliminary meeting at the weekend, Agence France Presse reported.

"We had 45 (minutes) to an hour discussion which was very fruitful... and we committed ourselves to continue this discussion," Salehi told a foreign-policy think tank in Berlin after meeting Syrian opposition leader Ahmad Muaz al-Khatib at a security conference in the southern German city of Munich.

Earlier on Sunday, Salehi cautiously welcomed the US offer for talks with his country but made clear they had to be “fair and with a real intention” to settle all outstanding issues.

Addressing the latest offer for bilateral talks by US Vice President Joe Biden, Salehi reiterated if there was an “honest intention” for such talks by the US, Iran would seriously take into “serious consideration.”

He emphasized a dialogue had to include abandoning “threatening rhetoric and a change in attitude” by Washington towards Tehran.

“We are no longer in the political orbit of the western powers and no country can look down on us any longer. We are an important regional player,” IRNA quoted him as saying.

Meanwhile, Salehi said the six world powers have proposed holding a new round of talks with Iran on its nuclear program in Kazakhstan on February 25.