Assad: Syrian Conflict Puts Iran and Hezbollah at Risk

Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told a top Iranian official Wednesday that it's not just his government that is threatened by the 19-month-long conflict he's waging against opposition forces.

Syria's state news agency SANA reported that in Assad's meeting with Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, the president warned that Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah were also in danger the longer the war drags on.

Assad said the "ongoing battle is targeting" what he terms "the whole of the resistance axis," the Syrian's leader name for the common enemies of Israel.

According to Assad, he has gone out of his way to show "openness in dealing with all initiatives put forward to find a solution to the crisis" although that does not include stepping down from office, which the U.S., the West and the Gulf Arab states have demanded.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Salehi insisted that the conflict that has left of tens of thousands of people dead cannot be resolved with outside interference.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio