Saudi FM says difficult to see Iran play peace-making role in Syria

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said on Monday that it is hard to imagine Iran playing a role in peace-making efforts in Syria given its military role in the conflict there.

“It has to withdraw from Syria and it has to stop supplying weapons to Bashar al-Assad’s regime and it has to withdraw the Shia militias that it sent … and then it can have a role,” Jubeir said during a press conference with his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Riyadh, adding that Iran was now an “occupier of Arab lands in Syria”.

Jubeir said he hoped Iran would stop interfering in the internal affairs of regional countries like Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.

Jubeir said Saudi Arabia could tolerate having the Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad stay in power for a short period until a transitional governmental body is formed.

“After the formation of this governmental body, President Assad must step down. If it is a matter of months, two or three months or less, that is not important. But Assad has no future in Syria,” he said.

However, German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said it would be unwise to believe that ousting Assad is the only way to restore peace in Syria.

“Maybe it would be short-sighted that we envisage no peace in Syria with Assad and that there will be no future for Syria with Assad,” said Steinmeier. However, he said the Syrian leader may be forced to step down in the long term.

Remarking on the Yemeni affairs, Jubeir said he welcomes discussions between the Yemeni government and rebels on the basis of the UN resolution. “We hope that al- Houthi rebels and forces allied with former President Abdullah Saleh are serious about accepting the UN resolution,” he said.