Tue, July 10, 2012
WASHINGTON, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The United States insisted on Tuesday that it sees no role for Iran in ending the violence and bloodshed in Syria.
"I don't think anybody with a straight face could argue that Iran has had a positive impact on developments in Syria. That's our view," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Iowa.
Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League joint envoy for Syria, said in Tehran on Tuesday that Iran could play a positive role in solving the Syrian crisis and should be part of the solution.
Annan said in his meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Monday that they agreed on an approach to the conflict and he would take it to the Syrian opposition.
Iran has opposed any form of foreign intervention in Syria, its close ally, but called on the Syrian government to listen to its people's demands and carry out reforms.
On the peace plan brokered by Annan, Carney called it " essential" for the international community to rally behind it, for it to be implemented and for al-Assad to step down to make way for a political transition in his country.
"We remain highly skeptical about al-Assad's willingness to meet his commitments, which is another reason why Syria's future cannot plausibly have Bashar al-Assad in the government," he said.
