Rouhani, Putin vow greater efforts to prevent Syria attack
Thursday, 29 August 2013
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have agreed to step up efforts to prevent any military action against Syria.
In a telephone conversation late on Wednesday, the two presidents stressed that any use of military force against another country without a mandate from the United Nations is a blatant violation of international law. Putin and Rouhani emphasized that the Syrian crisis must be resolved only through diplomatic means.
The remarks came shortly after the five permanent members of the UN Security Council held a closed-door meeting to discuss a British proposal for a draft resolution demanding a swift response to an alleged chemical weapon attack near Damascus on August 21, which killed hundreds.
Rouhani said Tehran strongly condemns any use of chemical weapons anywhere, but warned against jumping to a judgment before all aspects of the alleged attack have become clear.
The Iranian president expressed concern over reports that the West is preparing to launch a war against Syria and warned that any military intervention in the strategic Arab state could destabilize the whole Middle East.
Putin also refuted claims made by the US and its allies accusing the Syrian government of being behind the August 21 chemical attack. Moscow believes that the Syrian Army, which has the upper hand in the battle against foreign-backed militants, has no need to use chemical arms, he said.
The Russian leader said if the United States has evidence proving its claims that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons, it should share the intelligence with UN inspectors investigating the case.
Meanwhile, Commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Mohammad-Ali Jafari warned that the United States will face another Vietnam War if it attacks Syria.
The IRGC commander said Washington's new warmongering will cost the demolition of Israel.
Jafari’s remarks were echoed by Chief of Staff of Iran’s Armed Forces Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, who said any military action against Syria would burn Israel in flames.
Iran warns US of ‘Zionist trap’ in Syria
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Javad ZarifIranian Foreign Minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif says the United States will fall
into a trap laid in Syria by the Zionists, if Washington
launches a military strike on the Arab country.
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
“The Syria crisis is a trap set by Zionist pressure groups for this country (the United States),” said Zarif in a Tuesday TV interview.
If the White House gets involved in a war on Syria, said Zarif, US President Barack Obama will undoubtedly leave a very unpleasant memory of his presidency in peoples’ minds.
The top Iranian diplomat argued that any adventurism in Syria will ignite tension in the entire Middle East, adding, “If the crisis flares up, it cannot be confined to one region.”
On August 21, the militants operating inside Syria and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed that 1,300 people had been killed in a government chemical attack on militant strongholds in the Damascus suburbs of Ain Tarma, Zamalka and Jobar.
A number of Western countries, including the US, France, and the UK, were quick to adopt the rhetoric of war against Syria despite the fact that Damascus categorically rejected the baseless claim, and announced later that the chemical attack had actually been carried out by the militants themselves as a false flag operation.
Since Tuesday, speculations have become stronger about the possibility of a military attack on Syria. Media outlets have been reporting US plans for likely surgical attacks, which would be in the form of “cruise-missile strikes,” and “could rely on four US destroyers in the Mediterranean [Sea].” The plan, however, seems to be awaiting US President Barack Obama’s go-ahead.
Iran, Russia and China, among other countries, have warned against foreign military intervention in Syria, which has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011.
A very large number of the militants operating inside Syria are reportedly foreign nationals.
The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have been killed and many more displaced since the outbreak of the violence.
President Assad’s trip to Tehran
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R) visiting military commanders and soldiers
in Syria (file photo)
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Araqchi
has rejected recent Israeli media reports that Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad has flown to Iran.
In a Wednesday interview, Araqchi dismissed the reports as “ridiculous.”
Certain Israeli reports had earlier claimed that Assad had left Syria for Iran on Tuesday night.
This comes as speculations have become stronger about the possibility of a military attack on Syria. Media outlets have been reporting US plans for likely surgical attacks, which would be in the form of “cruise-missile strikes,” and “could rely on four US destroyers in the Mediterranean [Sea].” The plan, however, seems to be awaiting US President Barack Obama’s go-ahead.
On August 21, militants operating inside Syria and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed that 1,300 people had been killed in a government chemical attack on militant strongholds in the Damascus suburbs of Ain Tarma, Zamalka and Jobar.
A number of Western countries, including the US, France, and the UK, were quick to adopt the rhetoric of war against Syria despite the fact that Damascus categorically rejected the baseless claim, and announced later that the chemical attack had actually been carried out by the militants themselves as a false-flag operation.
Iran, Russia and China, among other countries, have warned against foreign military intervention in Syria, saying such action would only result in the escalation of the crisis in the country.
Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011.
A very large number of the militants operating inside Syria are reportedly foreign nationals.
The United Nations says more than 100,000 people have been killed and many more displaced since the outbreak of the violence.
Iran Majlis to take legal action against US over 1953 coup
Wednesday, 28 August 2013
Iranian parliamentarians have approved fast tracking debate on a bill that seeks to sue the United States for its
involvement in the 1953 coup d’état against the democratically-elected Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddeq.
During an open session of the Majlis on Tuesday, 173 Iranian lawmakers voted in favor of the urgency of discussing the motion for taking legal action against the US.
Iran Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani urged the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee to discuss the motion later in the day and hold detailed discussions about it on Wednesday.
In case of final approval, an ad hoc committee will be set up to debate ways of lodging a formal complaint against the US government for its meddling in Iran’s internal affairs and demanding damages.
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has for the first time published a document that confirms Washington’s role in the 1953 coup.
The open acknowledgment by the US intelligence community comes some six decades after the British- and American-backed military overthrow.
On August 15, 1953, the British and US intelligence agencies initiated a coup by the Iranian military, setting off a chain of events including riots on the streets of Iran’s capital, Tehran, that led to the overthrow and arrest of Mosaddeq four days later.
Mosaddeq, convicted of treason, served three years in prison and died under house arrest in 1967.
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