TEHRAN — Iran, Syria’s main regional ally, does not see President Bashar al-Assad staying in power indefinitely but neither does it want “extremist forces” to replace him, a senior Iranian diplomat said on Wednesday in an interview with Reuters.

Hossein Amir Abdollahian, deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, added in the interview that Iran hoped to have talks in a month
or so with Saudi Arabia, Tehran’s regional rival, to address their differences about the Middle East.

Asked about Iranian activities in several Arab countries, he told
Reuters that stability, peace and development “in Yemen, Bahrain,
Syria and any other country in the region will help the interests
and security of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Abdollahian, on a tour of some Persian Gulf Arab states for talks
about regional issues, said, “In order to answer your question
in another way: We have a deep relation with Syria. It’s a strategic
ally against Israel.”

He added, “We aren’t seeking to have Bashar al-Assad remain president for life. But we do not subscribe to the idea of using extremist forces and terrorism to topple Assad and the Syrian government.”

Syria’s conflict has drawn in thousands of foreign fighters who mostly fight for anti- Assad rebel groups, which include radical militias aligned to al Qaeda.

Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey back some groups fighting Assad’s forces. In turn, Assad gets support from Iran, Russia, and Iraq. Abdollahian insisted Iran’s aid to Syria was limited to humanitarian goods such as food and medicine and said military aid would not end the three-year-old war, which has cost an estimated 140,000 lives and uprooted millions