Iran calls no-fly zone over Syria a mistake

A senior Iranian official on Thursday dismissed as a "mistake" any attempt to impose a no-fly zone over Syria, as he stressed on the need for a political solution to the ongoing crisis in the Arab country, a media report said.

"Talks of the establishment of a buffer and no-fly zone (over Syria) is the repetition of the previous mistakes and will not help with the security and stability in the region," Press TV quoted Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdollahian as saying.

Amir-Abdollahian was in Kuwait to attend the 42nd annual meeting of foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries.

He also said that Syria's neighbouring states should block the infiltration of terrorists into the Arab country.

Turkey has been demanding that the US should impose a no-fly zone over the border territories of Syria to create a buffer zone to protect Ankara from Syrian airstrikes against militants. But Ankara and Washington on Wednesday failed to reach an agreement over the proposal.

Syria has been gripped by deadly conflict since March 2011. Some 12.2 million people, including 5.6 million children, need humanitarian assistance throughout Syria. And by conservative UN estimates, more than 220,000 Syrians have died in the conflict, but the actual number is likely much higher.