Chinese envoy: Iran big player in settling Syrian crisis

'Iran is an important country in the Middle East which has a significant and unique influence on the Syrian issue,' Chinese Special Envoy for Syria Xie Xiaoyan said according to the Chinese state news agency.

He visited Iran on July 20-23 and discussed the Syrian crisis and the possible solutions with the Iranian officials.

The Chinese envoy on Saturday echoed the Syrian and Iranian officials’ position that Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be protected.

He affirmed that China believed in political solution of the Syrian crisis, while taking into full account some other issues, including political negotiations, ceasefire, humanitarian crisi and counter-terrorism.

The Chinese official noted that establishing the de-escalation zones was one of the significant achievements of Astana peace talks held on July 12-15 in Kazakhstan.

Xie also emphasized that every party should respect the Syrian people’s right of self-determination and let them decide their own fate.

The Syrian crisis involving terrorist organizations supported by certain regional and Western states, began in 2011 and has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.

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