Iran says Assad must stay in Syria for now

Syria’s staunchest regional ally, Iran, on Monday intimated that Bashar al-Assad might not remain president of Syria.

The admission came as Kofi Annan was on the Iran leg of a regional tour aiming to try and broker a peace in Syria.

Iran’s foreign minister said Syria should be left in peace to choose in elections scheduled for 2014, and Assad should stay until then.

“I am happy to be back in Tehran again and I am here to discuss the situation in Syria. As you know, we had an action group meeting in Geneva at the end of last month and I am here also to discuss the outcome of those deliberations,” said Annan in Tehran.

Earlier in the day Annan had secured from President Assad of Syria his continued support for a six-point plan to open dialogue and stop the violence, but Syria insists the uprising is foreign-backed terrorism getting political support from the USA.

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