Assad meets Iranian national security official

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)

STORY: Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sat for talks with Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of the Iranian Parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, on Monday in Damascus, Syrian state TV reported.

Shi'ite Iran, a close ally of the Syrian Government, has strongly supported Assad in a two-year-old conflict that began with peaceful protests and turned into an armed revolt in which some 70,000 people have been killed.

Assad emphasized the important role played by parliaments around the world in representing their citizens and giving them a voice, a news anchor read in the broadcast on Syrian TV, adding the Syrian President said the role of parliament was critical in confronting the sort of "conspiracy" now faced by his country.