Annan to visit Iran next week on Syria

Tehran, April 4 (IANS) Kofi Annan, the UN and Arab League's joint envoy, will visit Iran next week for holding talks on Syria, the Iranian foreign minister said Wednesday.

The visit, which was initially slated for last week, was postponed due to Annan's tight schedule related to Syria, Xinhua quoted Ali-Akbar Salehi as stating.

Last Wednesday, Salehi said Annan would visit Iran the following week. But Annan's spokesman was later quoted as saying that the former UN chief did not have such a programme scheduled.

There is a way out of the current crisis in Syria, but the Syrian issue should be handled with "patience," Salehi said last week.

"Any hasty move about the Syrian issue and creating power vacancy in Syria could have serious detrimental consequences for the region," he said.