Kofi Annan, the UN-Arab League envoy dealing with the Syrian crisis, arrived at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran on Tuesday night.
Iranian media report that the former UN chief was accompanied by a six-member delegation to pursue possible solutions for the Syrian crisis.
Reports indicate that Annan is to meet with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Saeed Jalili, the head of the Supreme Council of National Security; Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi and a number of other Islamic Republic officials.
Over the past year of protests in Syria, Iran has remained a supporter of the Beshar Assad government, declaring that Israel and Western countries had a hand in fomenting unrest there.
Annan will meet with Salehi on Wednesday at 9AM and later will meet with the Iranian president.
Salehi has said that a solution to the Syrian crisis can only be reached through patience and perseverance.
“We believe in Kofi Annan’s mission regarding the Syrian issue,” Salehi said earlier, “and we believe that support for this mission from Arabs, Turkey and the United Nations will help bring about a solution to the Syrian problem.”
Annan visited Turkey before arriving in Iran to see the Syrian refugees camping near the country’s border.
Annan had asked the UN Security Council to give the Syrian government a deadline of April 10 to begin implementing his peace plan.
Annan’s six-point plan calls for a Syrian commitment to a ceasefire, an immediate halt to the use of all heavy weapons in populated areas, a daily two-hour halt to fighting to allow for the evacuation of the injured and the delivery of aid, and talks aimed at reaching a political solution.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Moualem said in a meeting with his Russian counterpart that Syrian troops had already pulled back from cities in accordance with the peace plan. But he added that a complete ceasefire can only be achieved after foreign observers are stationed in the country.
Syrian protests, which began in March of 2011, have so far left 9,000 dead.
