Report: Iranian diplomat says al-Assad must heed 'legitimate demands'

(CNN) -- Iran's foreign minister says he backs Syria's president but that the embattled Bashar al-Assad must pay heed to his citizenry's demands amid the country's instability, an Iranian news outlet reported on Saturday.

Semi-official Iranian Students News Agency quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi as saying that Syria should be more cautious and patient in its dealings with the citizenry.

Iran has been a top ally of Syria. The foreign minister warned of the consequences of a power vacuum amid the five-month-long protests in the Arab country.

Syria's regime has come under criticism and pressure for its harsh crackdown on demonstrators and world powers have called for al-Assad to step down.

As a result of the tumult, Iran is concerned about the effects of the instability on the region and exploitation of the unrest by other countries.

"We take one single position on Middle East and North African countries' popular developments. We believe developments in regional countries came following discontent of their nations," Salehi told ISNA.

"Regional governments should be vigilant about foreigners' meddling in their internal affairs. Current interference of foreigners in internal affairs of some regional countries, particularly in Syria, is clear-cut to everyone."

Salehi insisted that al-Assad should be supported and that "changing the regime in Syria is unconventional and is followed by an evil purpose."

Meanwhile at least one person was killed in the suburban Damascus town of Saqba after protests broke out on Saturday, said Rami Abdul Rahman, the head of Human Rights Observatory in Syria, an activist group.

Abdul Rahman said scores of people were arrested in raids Saturday night as protesters tried to get to Damascus. He said snipers have been deployed on the rooftops and security forces have a heavy presence on streets.

Reports of state-run news agency reporters on Saturday denied there were demonstrations in Damascus-area regions, despite news reports from Arabic-language networks.

The Syrian Arab News Agency report said Al-Jazeera and Al Arabiya once again proved "to be part of the conspiracy plotted against Syria through their psychological and media war strategies."