The President of Syria announced that the country is seeking to reach a security agreement with Israel, and that such an agreement could pave the way for comprehensive peace between the two countries.

Ahmad al-Sharaa said in an interview with Al Jazeera on Sunday that, however, he emphasized Syria’s “right” to the Golan Heights—a region that Israel captured during the Six-Day War in 1967 and annexed to its territory in 1981.

He said Syria is trying to bring a large group of countries into this process in order to put pressure on Israel to adopt a more balanced policy toward Syria.

The President of Syria added: “We avoid entering into clashes.”

Al-Sharaa’s remarks were made at the same time as the visit to Syria by António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, which was the first visit by a UN Secretary-General to this country since 2009.

On Sunday, Guterres, in a statement on the X network, called for respect for Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity, and territorial integrity.