Friday, April 7, 2017

Iran foreign minister says US strike in Syria based on 'bogus' allegations


TEHRAN - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Friday that a US missile strike on a Syrian airbase was based on "bogus" chemical weapons allegations.

Washington "resorts to military force over bogus CW (chemical weapons) allegations: 1st in 2003 and now in Syria," he tweeted.

He was comparing the strike to the US-led invasion of Iraq, which was premised on allegations that Baghdad had weapons of mass destruction which later turned out to be unfounded.

Iran and Russia are the closest allies of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and have defended him against Western allegations that he carried out a chemical weapons attack on a rebel-held town in northwestern Syria on Tuesday, killing dozens of civilians.

Tehran says any attacks on Assad will aid "terrorist" groups that oppose him.

"Not even two decades after 9/11, US military fighting on same side as Al-Qaeda and ISIS (the Islamic State group) in Yemen and Syria. Time to stop hype and cover-ups," Zarif tweeted.

source: news.abs-cbn.com