Even after the European Union and the United States explicitly opposed allowing Iran to play a role in resolving the Syrian conflict, UN peace envoy Kofi Annan said "my presence here [in Tehran] proves that I believe Iran can play a positive role and should therefore be a part of the solution in the Syrian crisis."

Annan was speaking at a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Ali-Akbar Salehi on Tuesday.

Salehi commented that Iran is “not a part of the problem” in Syria. Syrians have a “right to free elections,” he added, saying that all outside interference in the country was making the situation “much more complicated.”

"God forbid, one wrong measure, one wrong decision can have catastrophic consequences for the region and the whole world," Salehi, a fluent English speaker who studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, said.

On Monday, Annan was in Damascus to meet President Bashar Assad.

"We discussed the need to end the violence and ways and means of doing so. We agreed an approach which I will share with the armed opposition," Annan told reporters after the meeting.

Overnight Monday, security forces in Lebanon reported shells fired from Syria landed in northern Lebanon after an exchange of fire along the border. At least 98 people were killed nationwide on Monday, including 34 soldiers, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Opposition criticizes Annan

The opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) said its priority was to "work for the fall of the Assad regime and all its symbols," insisting there could be no political transition until the embattled president's departure.

The SNC had earlier criticised Annan's decision to meet Assad, saying thousands of people have been killed despite an April ceasefire. The SNC said the opposition coalition's new leader Abdel Basset Sayda is due to travel to Moscow on Wednesday at the invitation of the Russian foreign ministry.

Russia offers conference

Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Russia wanted to host a new meeting of foreign powers concerning the Syria crisis but not to decide the fate of President Assad.

"We would welcome organizing another Action Group meeting in Moscow. But we would also not be opposed to Geneva if special representative [Annan] and group participants find this more appropriate," Bogdanov told the Interfax news agency.

The same agency reported that at Britain's Farnborough Air Show the deputy director of Moscow's arms trade supervisory body, Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, said that "while the situation in Syria is unstable, there will be no new deliveries of arms there.” Russia is, with China, the major supporter of the Assad regime.

China calls for settlement

In Beijing at the third annual EU-China Strategic dialogue on Tuesday, the meeting's co-chair, State Councillor Dai Bingguo confirmed his country's position on Syria.

"We should adhere to the ironclad principle of non-interference in others' internal affairs," he said but added "at the same time it is very important to seek a settlement of various international issues by peaceful means through dialogue and cooperation."

jm/msh (AP, Reuters, dpa)