Tough talks for Annan in Tehran

Kofi Annan is likely have his work cut out persuading the Iranian leadership to change tack on Syria as he heads to Tehran next week.

President Bashar al-Assad's own atttitude towards Annan's six-point peace plan is confused perhaps deliberately.

Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's foreign minister, has been positive about it but also warned against "hasty decisions about Syria" and "leaving a power vacuum in Syria will jeopardize the peace and security of the entire region."

That sounds more like a lightly-coded endorsement of the status quo than support for regime change by negotiations.

Tehran has consistently denied helping Assad crush the uprising, but few are convinced. Iranian security and communications experts are reported by multiple sources to be advising the Syrians, drawing on the Iranian experience of crushing the 2009 election protests. Syrian riot police use equipment I last saw on the streets of Tehran.

And just to dispel any doubts, on Tuesday President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad openly praised the Syrian leadership's handling of the uprising.

"I am very happy that Syrian officials are managing the situation well ... I hope the situation in Syria improves day after day," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying during talks with Assad's envoy, Faisal Miqdad.

Syria, it's important to remember, is Iran's only Arab ally. It is unlikely to be abandoned lightly.

Source: THE GUARDIAN