DAMASCUS, Syria — Iran’s foreign minister briefed Syria’s leader Thursday on the global standoff over his country’s nuclear program.
The meeting in Damascus signaled Syria’s willingness to act on a request by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to try to help resolve the crisis by pushing Iran to cooperate with the international community.
Iran’s foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, welcomed a Syrian role in trying to ease the tension, Syria’s official SANA news agency reported. Speaking at a news conference, he added that Iran has always kept the Syrians informed of developments in the standoff with the United States and its European allies.
Sarkozy met with Syrian President Bashar Assad at a summit of European nations and other countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea last weekend in Paris. The French president asked Assad to step in and persuade Iran to offer proof that it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons.
Iran’s assurances that it only wants nuclear technology for the production of energy have failed to quell suspicions that it is seeking a pathway to an atomic bomb.
Assad promised to relay the request from France to Tehran.
On Thursday, Assad stressed his view that “dialogue and diplomacy are the only way to settle this issue,” SANA reported.
The visiting Iranian foreign minister also met with his Syrian counterpart, Walid al-Moal lem, who said at a joint news conference that Iran’s peaceful intention “was confirmed to us by our brothers in Iran.”
