TEHRAN - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday there could be no military solution to the devastating war in Syria, noting further confrontation with Saudi Arabia was in no one’s interest.

“There is no military solution to the (Syrian) crisis. We need a political solution,” Zarif told an audience at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos, AFP reported.

Iran is a major player in this year’s edition of the Davos meeting, just days after Tehran sealed a historic deal ending punishing sanctions by the West over its nuclear program.

But a U.S. decision on Sunday to re-impose some sanctions, this time over Iran’s missile program dampened the proceedings, with Zarif calling the move “bizarre”.

“I find it rather bizarre that the United States expresses concern over the Iranian missile program, which is defensive and does not violate any current international regulation,” Zarif said, addressing an audience of bankers and top business figures.

Zarif also urged Saudi Arabia to not choose conflict as tensions between the two countries reach boiling point.

“I think our Saudi neighbors need to understand that confrontation is in the interests of no one,” he said.

“There is no reason to panic, my friends,” Zarif said, addressing the Saudis directly.

“Iran is there to work with you, Iran does not want to exclude anybody from this region,” he said.

In an AP interview, Iran’s foreign minister also decried what he called the United States’ “addiction to coercion” with its new sanctions against Iran over ballistic missile tests.

Zarif called the new U.S. sanctions “illegal” and justified Iran’s program as self-defense. He spoke to The Associated Press ahead of an appearance at the World Economic Forum.

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Zarif calls U.S. sanctions on Iran for its missile program “bizarre”.