Annan in Iran for talks on Syria

International envoy Kofi Annan arrived in Tehran on Monday from Syria for talks with the Islamic republic's top security official and foreign minister, the Arabic-language Al-Alam television reported. Before leaving Damascus, Annan said he had agreed with President Bashar al-Assad on a new political "approach" to end Syria's nearly 16-month-old conflict, and that he would put this to the rebels. The UN and Arab League envoy is stepping up efforts to halt the carnage in Syria which monitors say has cost more than 17,000 lives since it erupted in mid-March last year. Al-Alam said Annan will meet Saeed Jalili, secretary of the supreme national security council, and Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi. A joint news conference by Annan and Salehi is set for Tuesday, the foreign ministry said. "I am here to discuss the situation in Syria -- as you know, there was an Action Group for Syria meeting in Geneva at the end of last month -- and to see how we can work together to help settle the situation in Syria," Annan's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi reported him as saying on arrival in Tehran. Annan has maintained that Iran has a key role to play in efforts to end the bloodshed in Syria. He also visited Tehran on April 10. Iran, which did not attend the Geneva meeting following objections by the United States, dubbed the so-called Friends of Syria gathering "unsuccessful."e text