Mohammad Javad Zarif went so far as to say that those who have in the past years demanded Assad's ouster "are responsible for the bloodshed in Syria."
The top Iranian diplomat did not name any specific country in the region but was likely referring to Turkey's and Saudi Arabia's repeated calls for Assad to step down. The two Sunni Muslim countries have supported rebels fighting against Assad.
Also today, French President Francois Hollande, in announcing that France will send reconnaissance flights over Syria beginning tomorrow and is considering airstrikes in the fight against the Islamic State group, said that resolving Syria's war will only happen if Assad leaves power.
Iran, however, denies sending combat forces to help Assad militarily. "Peace will not return to Syria with the slogans we are hearing from Syria's neighboring countries," Zarif said, adding that whether Assad stays or goes is a "decision for the Syrian people to make."
Speaking at a press conference in Tehran with his visiting Spanish counterpart, Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, Zarif insisted the Syrian crisis has no military solution and that no solution can be imposed on the Syrian people "from outside Syria.