Your trusted source

Press TV has interviewed political commentator Ibrahim Moussawi to talk about a possible solution to the crisis in Syria.

Press TV: Mr. Moussawi, what does the Iran-negotiated agreement for the insurgents to exit Homs say about Tehran’s role in possibly negotiating a final peace deal?

Moussawi: This will usher in a new era, I mean, the kind of actions that are taking place in Syria. I believe after the finalization of this deal which was mediated by Russia and Iran and facilitated by many other parts, especially the United Nations on the logistics, we have to understand that the door has been opened very wide in order to see other kinds of deals taking place in other cities as well.

Now, we have to understand one very simple thing that this deal would not have been able to be reached without the military defeat that has been dealt to the insurgents and to the militia groups in Homs. Had they had any opportunity to continue fighting the official forces, they wouldn’t have surrendered or accepted this kind of negotiation, this kind of deal.

The thing is that, I’m not in a position to say that we want to see the fighting continue there. I believe it would be time for all the groups, for all the parties to come and negotiate and to be convinced fully that only a political solution is capable of bringing to an end the crisis. Let’s hope that this would be an opening way for similar deals, big deals that would for example, bring peace and protection and safety to the different cities in Syria as well.

Press TV: Mr. Moussawi, the Syrian presidential election is set for next month. Do you think the successful holding of this election and mass participation by the Syrian people will go towards bringing an end to this crisis?

Moussawi: Well, I mean this would be another step. Let’s understand something here and let’s admit to one very important issue. It’s right that if we are going to see any kind of political solution, we would want to see wide ranging issues happening and this is just like what Mr. Nashashibi said, this is a very complicated issue. This would encompass and involve many players inside Syria and at the regional and international level. Still, up until now there are regional forces who have the ambition that they can overthrow the government and President Bashar al-Assad so they continue to funnel arms and ammunition and all kinds of support to the insurgents. This is one thing.

The other thing that we have to understand is that when we talk about the presidential elections, this does not necessarily mean that this is going to bring an end to the ongoing crisis. At one point this might add more fuel to it, because those who have started this they don’t want to see Bashar al-Assad continue to be in his position. So, they might if you want, intensify or escalate the situation. But all by all, when you see these kinds of deals happening locally in Homs and other areas and when you see certain political steps or governmental steps like the elections taking place, I believe some of the groups would grow angry but they will be desperate and they will feel that they are not going to be able to change anything. Let’s hope that this will bring all people back, I don't want to say people, I mean groups, to their senses, so they would spare and save the blood of the Syrian people.

Press TV: As our guest in London just mentioned about the excessive destruction, we have looked at pictures coming out of Homs and it absolutely amazing. It appears to some that not only was the goal of the situation basically, death in this society and causing chaos, but a total destruction of the infrastructure in Syria. Why is that the case? Always we see in war zones that there is a certain amount of destruction, but the level of the destruction that we are seeing in Homs and other areas is quite unbelievable.

Moussawi: Well, I mean this is a very excellent note to talk about. Yes, I mean when you talk about the destruction that happened. I totally agree with Mr. Nashashibi that this is a disaster for the Syrian people. The kind of destruction and the kind of wreckage for all of the facilities there for all of the public sector is very devastating. But we have to remember that this would tell you that those who are fighting there, I’m not trying to isolate the domestic or the national, if you want dimension, but we know that many foreigners, you are talking about tens of thousands of them.

When they blow up for example, very important archeological sites when they blow up historical sites, when they blow up certain institutions or let’s say churches or whatever that belonged to centuries ago, this would tell you that they give no value for human heritage or for any respect for all of the civilization that has passed in Syria. This is one thing, the other thing is that because they are foreigners, we are not talking about the people, I believe that if we are talking about the position of the Syrian people, they would want to continue to preserve to ensure the protection and the safety of the different facilities in the city. But when you see this kind of destruction you will understand very well the foreign hands that are there. But still, one of the very important things you have to remember is that Homs has been dubbed as the capital of the so-called revolution in Syria.

Now when the foreigners and the many thousands of them exit from there, this tells you this is a kind of sabotage, a fiasco for their goals. So it is in a certain sense a kind of victory for the government, though the price has been heavy and devastating.

Press TV: The same question. Do you see a political solution on the horizon and if so, what do you think it has to be?

Moussawi: I’m afraid to say that I agree that I can’t see any political solution in the foreseeable future in the horizon looming now. But I would say that any kind of election, any kind of political exercise for the Syrians is a step in the right direction. Let’s hope that this is going to bring people to their senses, bring the different groups into their senses. I believe if foreign powers stop funneling and arming and supporting and providing with weapons and money and different logistics, then the Syrian people would come to themselves and maybe they could figure out a certain kind of solution that would bring peace back to Syria. But we know very well that there should be kind of major reforms and the government itself has agreed and admitted they need to continue, they need to start kind of reform on the different levels, on an economic level and the political level in order to have a more representative system in this direction.