Iran's Foreign Minister called on the international community to help the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, official news agency IRNA said Tuesday, Feb 28.

“Syria has a strategic role in the region and it is therefore necessary to help the government of al-Assad to implement the reforms,” Ali-Akbar Salehi told Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League special envoy on Syria, Monday in Geneva.

“Instead of foreign interference in Syria which would only further increase the domestic problems in that country, an internal dialogue on the people's reform demands should be held, which the al-Assad government is doing now,” Salehi said.

Iran has supported al-Assad's government since the outbreak of unrest last year, but denied Western claims that it was supplying Syria with weapons to crack down on the opposition, M&C reported citing DPA.