.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has renewed his call to the Security Council to raise the pressure on Syria to stop the violence. Addressing a conference in Tokyo, he underlined the need for a political solution to the ongoing crisis in Syria. At the same conference, US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton warned that time was running out to save Syria from catastrophic assault. The Western powers have called for President Assad to go, however Russia and China are against any peace plan that seeks his ouster.

U.N. Special envoy Kofi Annan is in Damascus. He is expected to hold talks with the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad today. Syrian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jihad Makdissi told reporters in Damascus that Annan would hold talks on his six-point plan for peace with the Syrian leadership. It is Annan's third visit to Syria since he took over as the special envoy on crisis in Syria. Annan has lamented that the efforts to find a political solution in Syria have failed so far. In an interview to French Daily La Monde, he said that more attention should be paid to Iran's role. Annan told that Russia’s role as an ally and arms supplier to Syria is key, but Iran is also a player and it should be part of the solution.Meanwhile, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian told reporters in Amman that any non political solution would be catastrophic for the entire region.