Iran ready to help Syria to hold reconstruction conference

Iranian Minister of Road and Urbanization Abbas Akhoundi, in a meeting with General Secretary to the Syrian Prime Minister Tisir Al-Zaabi in Tehran on Tuesday, voiced Iran’s preparedness to help hold an international conference on reconstruction of Syria. “Iran is ready to help hold a conference on reconstruction in Syria in an appropriate time …,” Akhoundi said today. The Iranian road and urbanization minister underlined that the international conference can play an effective role in the reconstruction of Syria. “I am optimistic about the future of Syria and I think that in the housing and transportation sections we can have further cooperation and the Iranian Railway can be connected to Syria via Iraq,” Akhoundi added. Al-Zaabi, for his part, pointed to the latest status of the Syrian government, and said, “Syrian cities are under government control and tranquility will return to Syria.” In September, the Syrian government earmarked 50 billion Syrian pounds ($250 million) for reconstruction next year. "The government has increased its budget spending for emergency aid and reconstruction for 2014 to 50 billion Syrian pounds," AFP quoted Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi as saying. In 2013, the Syrian government budget for aid and reconstruction was 30 billion pounds. Iranian officials have repeatedly underlined that Tehran is in favor of negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition groups to create stability in the Middle Eastern country. Last November, Iran hosted a meeting between the representatives of the Syrian government and opposition to encourage them to start talks to find a political solution to their problems. The National Dialogue Conference kicked off work in Tehran mid November with the motto of 'No to Violence, Yes to Democracy". The meeting brought together almost 200 representatives of various Syrian ethnicities, political groups, minorities, the opposition, and state officials. Syria has been experiencing unrest since March 2011 with organized attacks by well-armed gangs against the Syrian police, border guards, statesmen, army and civilians being reported across the country. Thousands of people have been killed since terrorist and armed groups turned protest rallies into armed clashes. The government blames outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups for the deaths, stressing that the unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.