Tehran, Sep 16 (IANS): Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani Monday said the ongoing crisis in Syria is merely part of a wider conspiracy plan the West is pursuing in the Middle East.

“We are well aware that the disputes were not over one person or one president or the coming to power of a particular faction in Syria. It goes beyond that and it is obvious that the West has plans for the whole region,” Iran's Mehr news agency quoted Rouhani as saying.

“What has happened in Libya, Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain are rings of a single chain of events which aim to impact the region and weaken the (anti-Israeli) resistance front,” the Iranian president added.

Rouhani said the West wrongly assumes that Iran seeks military control of the region.

“Our discourse is one of fighting terrorism in the whole region,” Rouhani said.

“All our efforts are directed at restoring peace and stability to Syria, and we will accept whoever the Syrian citizens choose to run their country,” he added.