Italy: Iran has major role in post-Assad Syria

Italy said Friday Iran could play a "major" role in restoring stability in Syria following the departure of president Bashar Al-Assad's regime. Armando Varricchio, prime minister's political advisor, called on Tehran to participate in the political process in Syria. At a news conference, Varricchio said Italian and Iranian foreign ministers would be meeting on sidelines of the UN General Assembly's meetings in New York next week. "Italy thinks that Iran has a major role to enforcing stability in Syria and the rest of the Middle East especially in the post-Assad stage," he said. "It is not reasonable to think about having peace in the region after departure of Assad without Tehran," he added.