Iran not to support Bashar al-Assad

Iran says the 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in its capital proves U.S. efforts to isolate it over its nuclear program and support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have failed. A resolution on Syria would help Tehran argue that its ties with Damascus are benign, the Reuters reports.

Ban urged Iran's leaders to use their influence to call on Assad to end the violence and create conditions for "credible dialogue and a genuine political process that meets the will of the Syrian people," Ban's spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

"The secretary-general reiterated his opposition to the further militarization of the conflict and called on all states to stop supplying arms to all sides in Syria," he said.