Syria strikes prove direct US-terrorists ties: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (R) and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the "aggressive" US move to carry out military strikes against Syria reveals that Washington has direct ties with terrorists.

"The Americans showed such a reaction when they felt that the terrorists were dislodged from an important region like Eastern Ghouta," Rouhani said in a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, a day after US-led strikes on Syria.

The strikes, conducted by the United States, France and Britain, hit three sites, one in Damascus, and two in the city of Homs, which US President Donald Trump claimed were “associated with the chemical weapon capabilities” of the Syrian government.

The tripartite Western countries announced that strikes were carried out as a punitive measure against Damascus for a suspected poison gas attack they claimed was purportedly conducted on April 7 by the Syrian government on Douma, the largest town in Eastern Ghouta near the Syrian capital, which reportedly killed 60 people and injured hundreds more. 

Rouhani told Putin that the joint military strikes against Syria were an "aggressive measure" aimed at boosting the defeated terrorists' morale.

He warned that if aggression and blatant violation of international regulations were to become easy and cost-free, "we would witness new instability in the regional and international system."

"The attack by the US and its allies against Syria showed that we are facing new problems and issues in the way of a final fight against terrorism in Syria and that we must have more consultation and cooperation with each other," the Iranian president told his Russian counterpart.

In a telephone conversation with his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, on Saturday, Rouhani denounced recent airstrikes against Syria, saying such attacks ran contrary to the principles of international law and were considered as a blatant sign of support for terrorism.

"At a time that terrorists are suffering a defeat in Syria on a daily basis, such aggressive act certainly means support for these defeated groups," the Iranian president said.

US-led attack on Syria, international crime: Putin

The Russian president, for his part, said the strikes conducted by the US and two Western countries against Syria under any pretext were a blatant violation of international law and an international crime.

Claims about the use of chemical weapons in Syria are baseless and against the realities on the ground, he added.

Putin emphasized that Tehran and Moscow have a common stance on many regional and international developments.

Both Tehran and Moscow are giving Damascus a helping hand in its countrywide counter-terrorism battles. Iran has been offering military advisory assistance to the national Syrian army, while the Russian air force is providing air cover to its ground operations.

Putin said the missile attack on Syria was carried out before the announcement of the results of investigations into the use of chemical weapons in the Arab country.

He added that the United Nations was founded to build consensus among countries, adding that it should not serve the political interests of certain powers, because it would create more chaos on the international scene.

The Russian president emphasized that acts of aggression would not stop his country's fight against terrorism and extremism in the region, particularly in Syria.

He also stressed the importance of more efforts and consultation among Iran, Russia and Turkey in order to restore peace and stability to Syria after the US-led military strikes.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday that the Western countries’ so-called proof of the purported use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government in the town of Douma was “ludicrous” for experts.

The Russian top diplomat added that Washington, London and Paris told Moscow that there were purported “irrefutable facts” as for the suspected chemical attack, so that, they could justify the strikes that they had delivered earlier in the day.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday that the tripartite Western missile attack on the Arab country was a blatant act of aggression against a sovereign state and a sheer violation of the international law.

He added that the aerial aggression was accompanied with a campaign of misdirection and lies at the UN Security Council against Syria and Russia, which is Syria’s close ally in the fight against foreign-backed militancy in the country.