Damascus (AsiaNews) - UN and Arab League peace envoy Kofi Annan, has announced an agreement with President Bashar al-Assad for a new plan to be submitted to the rebels to end 16 months of violence. Today, the former Secretary General of the United Nations will be in Tehran, where he will meet Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's foreign minister, to convince Damascus' main ally to work for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

In recent months Annan, has repeatedly tried to engage Iran in negotiations, despite the opposition of the United States, Europe and Syrian rebels. The Syrian National Council (SNC) yesterday criticized the diplomatic mission calling it a "failure" and demanding once again, decisive action by the international community to stop bombings and clashes.

The new plan by UN and Arab League envoy proposed last June 30 at Geneva in accordance with the regime and rebels, is for the creation of safe conditions for a ceasefire, to allow freedom of movement for humanitarian agencies. On the diplomatic front, the hypothesis is the formation of a coalition government with opposition members and members of the former regime, respecting the national sovereignty of Syria. However, many think it will be almost impossible to implement the plan even with the help of Tehran. The Free Syrian Army (FSA) and SNC reject any solution involving agreements or contacts with the regime and for months have called for armed intervention along the lines of the one in Libya.

Meanwhile, the army continues to bombard the rebel stronghold of Qusayr. Dozens of civilians were killed and hundreds were forced to flee their homes. Images broadcast by the rebels on the internet showed several wounded children. Clashes also took place in Damascus and Aleppo, where the war has not spared even the central districts of the city.