Iran rejects foreign intervention in Syria

DAMASCUS - The visiting secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili stressed Tuesday his country's rejection to foreign intervention in Syria.

In a press conference following his meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday, Jalili said his country will host a meeting on Syria next Thursday concentrated on allowing the Syrians to determine their future by their free will, not by foreign intervention.

"Everybody should allow the Syrian people to determine through their free will, which they need for their future and their destiny without any foreign interventions and without the practices that make the situation in Syria more violent and bloody, " Jalili told reporters.

Jalili, who flew to Damascus earlier in the day, said that the road for the settlement in Syria is political not a military one.

He also lashed out at the countries that render support and military supplies to the armed rebels in Syria, saying that such parties "can't, in any way serve the interests of the Syrian people."

As for the case of the 48 kidnapped Iranian pilgrims, Jalili said his country will exhaust all legal methods that are conducive to securing the kidnapped pilgrims' return to their families.

Jalili, who arrived from Beirut, is also expected to fly to Turkey to meet with officials there.

Iran has held Turkey and the Gulf states responsible for the kidnapping of the Iranians due to their support to the armed rebels, who kidnapped the pilgrims.

The Iranians and the Shiite people have been recently targeted in Syria by the Sunni-dominated opposition fighters, who believe that Iran is backing the regime of Assad.

Meanwhile, and during his meeting with Jalili Tuesday, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said his country is determined to eradicate terrorists and terrorism, noting that the process of national dialogue will continue.