Tue Sep 29, 2015 18:44:48
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday that Tehran was ready to help bring democracy to war-torn Syria and Yemen, and blamed the spread of terrorism in the Middle East on the United States.
In a speech to the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York, Rouhani said Iran was prepared to assist in "the eradication of terrorism and in paving the way for democracy".
"As we aided the establishment of democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are prepared to help bring about democracy in Syria and also Yemen," said Rouhani.
U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Monday offered different views on how to resolve the Syrian crisis. But Obama said he was willing to work with Russia and Iran to end it.
The foreign-sponsored conflict in Syria, which flared in March 2011, has claimed the lives of more than 250,000 people and left over one million injured, according to the United Nations (UN).
The world body says 12.2 million people, including more than 5.6 million children, remain in need of humanitarian assistance. The foreign-sponsored militancy has displaced 7.6 million people.
Almost 1.2 million people have been internally displaced, and the UN expects another million to be displaced by the end of the current year in light of the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria.
Saudi Arabia launched its military aggression against Yemen on March 26 – without a United Nations mandate – in a bid to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to fugitive former Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who is a staunch ally of Riyadh.
Over 6,200 Yemenis have reportedly lost their lives in the Saudi airstrikes, and a total of nearly 14,000 people have been injured.
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