Mayor Bloomberg has joined the chorus of criticism of the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, for meeting with Syria’s leader in an attempt to make an end run around President Bush, who has rejected the idea of diplomatic talks with the Middle Eastern country.

Mr. Bloomberg said yesterday that foreign diplomacy should be run by the State Department, not by elected leaders. The mayor, who appears to be keeping ajar the door for a possible presidential run as an independent, said the issue was not a political one. He noted that he holds the same view of the three-member Republican delegation that recently traveled to Syria.

“I thought that was wrong and I think she is wrong,” Mr. Bloomberg said about Mrs. Pelosi, adding that elected officials can try to influence diplomatic policy at home if they disagree with it.

“I think Condoleezza Rice’s job is hard enough without sending mixed messages overseas,” the mayor added. “In the end we are like a family. We can have disagreements, but they are internal to us and we should speak with one voice in this world.”

Mr. Bloomberg ‘s comments came on the day Mrs. Pelosi, who is traveling with five Democrats and one Republican, met with the Syrian leader, Bashar Assad. They also came on a day that a Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, lashed out at Mrs. Pelosi.

“Her going to a state which is without question a sponsor of terror, and having her picture taken with Assad and being seen in a headscarf and so forth is sending the wrong signal to the people of Syria and to the people of the Middle East,” Mr. Romney was quoted as saying during an Iowa campaign stop. “It’s a very bad idea to be carrying out a separate and independent foreign policy from the president of the United States. I just don’t know what got into her head, to be completely honest with you. I think it was a huge, huge, mistake.”

While Mr. Romney attacked Syria as a sponsor of terror, Mr. Bloomberg’s comments, in keeping with his trademark managerial style, were strictly procedural.

A spokesman for Mrs. Pelosi, Drew Hammill, said the speaker was conveying “a tough and serious message to Syria about its role in the region,” and was not deviating from the message Mr. Bush is trying to send.