An Iranian lawmaker said Iran should have supported Syrian protesters rather than sticking by the government, Khabar Online reported.

"The fact is that supporting the Syrian rulers at any cost was not right as those who staged the protests were Muslims and their protests were legitimate," said Ahmad Avaei, member of the parliament's national security commission.

He said the Iranian government should have adopted a wiser stance on developments in Syria, even though Syria took the same political line as Tehran against Israel ."Unfortunately, the Syrian leadership has realized too late the necessity of entering the reform process and should have done that much earlier to avoid the current crisis," Avaei said.