28 Mar 2024
Saturday 8 April 2017 - 18:19
Story Code : 256472

Top Iranian, Russian security officials discuss US missile strike on Syria

FNA- The most senior Iranian and Russian security officials conferred on the recent US missile aggression against a Syrian airbase in Homs province.

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Shamkhani and his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev in a phone conversation on Saturday afternoon exchanged views on Washington's missile attack on Syria.

During the conversation, Shamkhani underlined the necessity for the formation of a fact-finding committee to clarify the aspects of the suspicious chemical attack in Idlib, and said given the fact that Syria has been disarmed of chemical weapons in the past, the attack has been definitely launched by a third party to create a pretext for military aggression against Syria.

He also warned of impacts of the US aggressive and illegal moves in the region, and said, "Such measures boost the terrorists' morale and disrupt the trend of war on terrorism which is pursued through cooperation among the Russian, Syrian and Iranian governments under the UN supervision."

Yet, Shamkhani underscored that the decisive battle and suppression of terrorist streams will continue through strategic cooperation among Iran, Syria, Russia and the resistance front.

Patrushev, for his part, condemned the US missile strike against Syria as a sovereign state, describing it as an aid to the terrorists and against the international laws.

On Thursday night, the United States launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at the Syrian military airfield in al-Shayrat, located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the city of Homs. US President Donald Trump said the attack was a response to the alleged chemical weapon use in Syria's Idlib on Tuesday, which Washington blames on the Syrian government.

Russia described the attack as an aggression against a sovereign state. Following the US military action, Russia decided to suspend its memorandum of understanding on air safety over Syria with the United States, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Syrian opposition claimed Tuesday forces loyal to President Bashar Assad had used a chemical gas on people in the Northwestern province, killing nearly 80 and injuring 200. Assad argued his government has no chemical weapons after agreeing to have them destroyed in 2013. He also ruled out having used chemicals against own people.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif strongly condemned the US cruise missile attack on Syria's military base, and said that Washington is backing the terrorist groups in that country and Yemen.

"The US is fighting on the same side of Al-Qaeda and the ISIL terrorist groups in Yemen and Syria," Zarif wrote on his Twitter account on Friday.

He reiterated that as the only recent victim of massive use of chemical weapons (by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hossein in the 1980s, Iran condemns use of all weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) by anyone against others.

Zarif reiterated that Washington helped Saddam in its chemical weapons attack against Iran, but the US has twice in the current millennium used "bogus" chemical weapons allegations to use military force, including in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the current strikes against Syria.

The top Iranian diplomat added that it is high time to stop hype and cover-ups.
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