Foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) have called for Syria to be suspended from the 57-member international body, an OIC source said.
The ministers gathered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Monday prior to an OIC summit in Mecca on August 14-15.
“The OIC ministers agreed to suspend Syria’s membership of the organization,” the source told RIA Novosti.
The move by the group representing Muslim interests in the global affairs reflects its concern over escalating violence in the country torn by an acute political crisis.
Iran has opposed the decision to suspend Syria at the OIC.
“We will not accept that proposal under any circumstances and we believe that this is the wrong step,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi earlier objected to the move.
"By suspending membership, this does not mean that you are moving toward resolving an issue. This means that you are erasing the issue. We want to really resolve the issue," he said in Jeddah.
The formal decision on Syria, which requires a two-thirds majority, is very likely to be adopted on Wednesday.
Syria’s membership of the Arab League was suspended nine months ago.
The Syrian conflict has claimed up to 20,000 lives since March 2011, according to estimates by various opposition groups and the UN.
The UN refugee agency has registered almost 150,000 refugees in four countries bordering Syria.
Most recently, after regaining control of Damascus, the Syrian army has continued a large-scale offensive to force rebels out of the northern city of Aleppo, on the border with Turkey.
The government troops on Monday stormed the western neighborhood of Aleppo in a battle that could decide the future of the armed uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
