Arab and Turkish officials urge dialogue with Iran

Munich: Arab and Turkish officials slammed talk of a military strike against Iran, saying on Sunday that it would be a disaster for the region and calling for renewed negotiations, while also urging the international community to keep pressure on Syria to end the bloodshed there.

In the wake of suggestions that military strikes are an increasing possibility if sanctions fail to rein in Iran's nuclear programme, Qatar's minister for international cooperation told a gathering of the world's top security and defence officials that Arab nations rejected the idea.

"Knowing the region very well, I think this is not a solution," Khalid Al Attiyah said at the Munich Security Conference. He also dismissed the idea of tightening sanctions further, saying that negotiations with Iran were needed "to get out of this dilemma".

Ahmat Davutoglu, the foreign minister of Turkey — Iran's neighbour to the north — said the international community was discussing three approaches towards Tehran at the moment: negotiations, sanctions or military action.

"From our perspective the worst is the military option, the best is negotiations," he said, adding that further sanctions could hinder negotiations. "The military option will create a disaster in our region," he added.

International outrage

The two spoke in a panel discussion on ‘the new Middle East' where much of the focus was on the international outrage over a bombardment of the Syrian city of Homs by President Bashar Al Assad's forces.

Russia and China on Saturday vetoed a UN resolution based on an Arab League proposal that was aimed at ending the bloodshed.

In the wake of the vote, Tunisian Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali urged others to follow his country's example and expel Syria's ambassadors as a sign to protesters there that Al Assad has no international legitimacy.

"The war that Bashar Al Assad is leading is a war against humanity," he said. "And this requires a very strong response by the international community." He added: "The very least that we can do is to cut our relations to the Syrian regime."

Frustration

Egypt's foreign minister Mohammad Amr signalled frustration that the UN resolution was vetoed following "one of the few instances when the Arab League really came forward and put forward a full plan for a settlement".

"Now this human tragedy has to stop," Amr said, adding that Arab League foreign ministers will meet in Cairo next Saturday. "We will evaluate the situation after what happened in the Security Council and hopefully ... we will be successful to achieve a peaceful solution," Amr commented.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said it was possible that the matter would be again taken to the UN body, in close coordination with the Arab League.