Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug. 3 /Trend S.Isayev, T. Jafarov/
Some world countries did not like Kofi Annan's efforts to stop arms sales to Syria, Iranian Foreign Ministry's spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said while on his visit in China, IRNA reported.
Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is quitting as international peace envoy for Syria, frustrated by "finger-pointing" at the United Nations while the armed rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad becomes increasingly bloody.
As battles raged on Thursday in Syria's second city, Aleppo, between rebel fighters and government forces using war planes and artillery, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced in New York that Annan had said he would go at the end of the month.
Annan's mission, centered on an April ceasefire that never took hold, has looked irrelevant as fighting has intensified in Damascus, Aleppo and elsewhere.
Annan blamed "finger-pointing and name-calling" at the U.N. Security Council for his decision to quit but suggested his successor may have better luck, according to Reuters.
Ramin Mehmanparast underscored that now it will be tougher for neighboring countries to avoid involvement into the Syrian conflict.
He added that Iran will continue its efforts for establishing stability in the region.
According to UN, the total number of victims of the conflict in Syria has exceeded 17,000 people. About 230,000 people became refugees.