Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi. Photo: wiki commons.

Iran’s Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, announced Monday that his country had offered a six-point plan to end the crisis in Syria. Salehi made the announcement at an international academic conference in Tehran.

The Iranian Foreign Minister said Iran offered the comprehensive six-point plan for ending the Syrian crisis to Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Russia and UN-Arab League Joint Special Representative for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi.

“We consider commitment to national talks as the most apt way to resolve the issues of Syria and Bahrain,” Salehi said, according to Iran’s Press TV.

He also criticized the West’s “selective approach” to the crisis in Syria and called for a “diplomatic solution.”

“Today, the main opposition in Syria believes in dialogue; but, at the same time as Tehran’s meeting was ongoing, terrorists were targeting the people and the government.”

“These irresponsible groups that are supported by certain foreign countries have targeted the vast human resources and infrastructure in Syria and have jeopardized the security of the country and the region,” Salehi added.

In recent weeks the specter of chemical and biological weapons being used by both government and rebel forces has raised fears in the West and has prompted Israel to send an elite special forces unit into the country to track weapons movement, according to reports.

The Syrian crisis has been ongoing since early 2011 and human rights groups place the number of those killed due to the conflict at 40,000 people.