Kofi Annan warned yesterday that Syria’s deadly conflict could spread across the region as he held talks in Iran and Iraq aimed at shoring up support for his tattered peace plan.

We have many wounded, and there are no doctors here

A day after meeting President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, the UN-Arab League peace envoy had talks in Tehran and Baghdad amid new bloodshed in Syria where more than 17,000 people have reportedly been killed since March 2011.

In Tehran, he stressed that the Islamic republic, Syria’s staunchest regional ally, has a key role to play, and also sought help from Iraq, another neighbour of Syria. “Iran can play a positive role,” Annan said after meeting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.

Mr Annan then flew to Baghdad where, he said, he had “very good discussions” with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and later told reporters he would brief the UN Security Council today.

“And I’m sure the council will take appropriate action, including the future of UNSMIS, the monitors on the ground, as their mandate comes up on the 21st of July,” Mr Annan said of unarmed UN military observers deployed in Syria.

Deadly violence showed no sign no abating yesterday. The army rained shells down on the rebel-held central town of Rastan as violence killed at least 21 people nationwide, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

“We have many wounded, and there are no doctors here, only two dentists. We can’t do anything for the wounded. It’s tragic,” an activist in Rastan told AFP via Skype.

Of those killed yesterday, at least nine were civilians, four soldiers and four rebels, the Observatory said, noting that 98 people were killed on Monday, including 34 soldiers.

Among the dead was Syrian Arab Red Crescent staffer Khaled Khaffaji, shot by unknown gunmen overnight in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.