Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (left) with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (right). Photo: www.direttanews.it.

Businessweek – Iran set the scene for a diplomatic showdown with fellow Islamic states over the suspension of Syria at a summit in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters in Jeddah that his country would oppose the exclusion of President Bashar al-Assad’s government from the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which has been recommended by the group’s foreign ministers.

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