(CNN) -- Iran has offered to host talks between Syria's government and opposition in Tehran, its foreign minister said Sunday.
"Iran's Foreign Minister
Ali Akbar Salehi says the Islamic Republic is prepared to facilitate
talks between the Syrian government and opposition by hosting a meeting
between the two sides in Tehran," state-run Press TV reported.
Salehi told reporters
Iran will invite dissidents "in a bid to prepare and facilitate the
ground for talks between the Syrian dissidents and government,"
according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Salehi emphasized that
Iran supports the six-point plan proposed by Kofi Annan, the joint
United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria.
The peace plan by Annan, a
former U.N. secretary-general, has failed to bring about a halt to the
bloodshed. Annan told the U.N. Security Council last week he needed the
threat of consequences to win more cooperation inside Syria.
The bloody crackdown by
President Bashar al-Assad on the Syrian opposition, which has been
ongoing for 16 months, has sparked international outrage. However,
al-Assad still enjoys the support of a... >>>