Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has criticised the Syrian government’s violent crackdown on political protesters.

“Nobody has the right to kill others, neither the government nor its opponents,” Ahmadinejad said in an interview with CNN.

He said that his government would encourage Syria to stop the violence against protesters, but warned against US intervention in the Levant state.

“We are going to make greater efforts to encourage both the government of Syria and the other side, all parties, to reach an understanding,” said Ahmadinejad.

But Ahmadinejad stressed that western intervention was not the answer.

“The positions of the United States are not going to help. They have never helped,” he added.

The UN estimates that there have been more than 2,700 deaths in Syria since the protests began in January.