Iranian foreign minister to meet Assad

DAMASCUS, Syria, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Iran's foreign minister said the Syrian people have a right to determine their own future in advance of a meeting with Syria's president in Damascus Wednesday.

Javad Zarif arrived in the Syrian capital in the early Wednesday and planned to hold talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad and other government officials, the official Iranian website IRNA said.

Shortly after his arrival at Damascus International Airport, Zarif said he plans to work toward restoring calm in the civil war-stricken country, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported.

Zarif called on all sides to combat the terrorism that has become a threat to everyone, the Iranian website said. The Iranian foreign minister said a solution to the crisis in Syria can only be found through dialogue and added the Syrian people have the right to determine the future, SANA said.

Prior to his arrival in Damascus, Zarif visited Lebanon where he met with Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah. He also traveled to Iraq and Jordan.