Kofi Annan Arrives In Tehran

Tehran, July 10, IRNA – United Nations special envoy on Syria Kofi Annan arrived in Tehran on Monday afternoon for consultations with senior Iranian officials on ways to end Syrian conflict. Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian welcomed Annan. Annan is to confer with Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and Secretary of Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili on current developments in Syria. Annan who wound up his two-day visit to Syria held a joint press conference with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad earlier in the day. Annan had declared earlier that he would brief Syria and Iran on outcome of the Geneva meeting on Syria held last week. Representatives of five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Turkey, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, secretary-general of the Arab League Nabil al-Araby and the European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton attended the Geneva meeting on Syria last week to find a way out of the current crisis in Syria. President Assad said in a TV interview that Washington was moving to "destabilize" Syria by giving political support to armed gangs./end