Iran deplores suspension of Syria's OIC membership
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E-mail Xinhua, August 17, 2012
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi condemned on Thursday the suspension of Syria's membership in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the semi- official Fars news agency reported.
The OIC announced early Thursday the suspension of Syria from the 57-member bloc, which was proclaimed in a statement issued at the end of an extraordinary OIC conference held in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
The organization also stressed the need to immediately end the acts of violence in Syria, which has been torn by deadly turmoil for 17 months.
Salehi said that suspending Syria's membership in the OIC was an "unjust" and "unfair" move, according to Fars.
"Iran opposed suspending Syria's membership as it was against the Charter of the OIC," he was quoted as saying.
"Before making any decisions, Syria should have been invited to the summit to discuss and defend its position," said Salehi.
Also, the head of Iran's Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, on Thursday censured suspension of Syria's membership in the OIC as a " politicized" move, Press TV reported.
"Suspension of Syria's membership as a Muslim country in this organization is a political move engineered by Saudi Arabia, and is continuation of what they did in the Arab League (from which Syria was also expelled last November," Boroujerdi was quoted as saying.
He added that "Syria is an Arab and Islamic state and suspension of Syria's membership in the OIC lacks any legitimacy and rationale."
Boroujerdi further noted that Syria's expulsion from the OIC will not alter the Islamic and Arab nature of the crisis-hit nation, describing the latest anti-Syria bid as illegitimate and illogical, according to the report.
On Thursday, another Iranian lawmaker said that Syria's membership suspension is the "black spot" on track records of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Press TV reported.
"The government and nation of Syria are Muslim and entitled to have a seat at the OIC," Evaz Heidarpour, a member of Iran's Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission was quoted as saying by Press TV.
Heidarpour criticized the OIC leaders for not inviting Syria to the summit, saying this deprived Damascus of the opportunity to defend itself against the charges, according to Press TV.
From the very beginning, the intention of the OIC by holding the meeting was to condemn the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and suspend the country's membership, said the Iranian lawmaker.
Secretary of the Syrian Parliament Khaled Aboud said Wednesday that the suspension would have no negative impact on the country, adding that even if the proposal was approved by the OIC ministers, it would not affect Syria in terms of its economic, political and military situations.
On Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul in Mecca underlined Iran's intention to make utmost efforts to establish peace, tranquillity and stability in Syria, Fars reported.
"Iran would do anything it can for the establishment of peace, stability and justice in Syria, so that the people would no longer get killed there and the situation would cease to be so complicated," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying.
