Assad: war targets resistance axis

President Bashar Assad told Iran's foreign minister on Wednesday that the war engulfing Syria is targeting not just it but the "resistance axis," state news agency SANA reported. Assad's regime, Iran and the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah refer to themselves as a "resistance axis" in their common opposition to Israel. "The ongoing battle is targeting the whole of the resistance axis, not just Syria," Assad told Iran's visiting Ali Akbar Salehi. Meanwhile, Assad said "Syria has shown openness in dealing with all initiatives put forward to find a solution to the crisis. The key to any initiative's success is the sincerity of the intentions behind it." Earlier on Wednesday, Salehi said the solution to the conflict "lies only with Syria and within the Syrian family, in partnership with international and regional organisations." Assad and his allies in Iran, China and Russia have systematically blamed the conflict on foreign powers, notably the West, Gulf countries and Turkey. The Daily Star