Syrian President Bashar Assad has held talks with US senators John Kerry and Christopher Dodd about Syria's readiness to help bring stability and security to Iraq, the US embassy in Damascus said in a statement.

The US press release said the two-and-a-half hour meeting with Assad covered a "full-range of topics relating to US-Syrian relations and regional issues."

The two senators also met with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al- Moallem, but declined to talk to reporters.

Al-Moallem reviewed Syrian-US relations with Kerry and Dodd and "exchanged views on latest regional and international developments, especially the developments in the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon and Iraq," Syria's official SANA news agency reported.

The minister stressed Syria's keenness on stability and security in the region and the need of the international community to shoulder its responsibilities in achieving a comprehensive and just peace in the region.

That peace should be "based on UN Security Council resolutions, the Madrid principles of 'land for peace' aimed at liberating Arab lands occupied by Israel including the Golan Heights," SANA quoted the minister as saying.