Iran Condemns US Missile Attack on Syria

This morning, Bahram Ghasemi, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, condemned the United States’ missile attack on a Syrian airbase, calling it “a violation of international law” and warning that it would strengthen terrorists in the region. Shortly after, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted: “American military is fighting on the side of Al Qaeda and ISIS in Yemen and Syria.”

Ghasemi said the Iranian government condemned the use of chemical weapons anywhere, and reminded the world that Iran itself was a victim of massive chemical attacks during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. Zarif’s tweet issued the same reminder: ”As the only recent victim of mass use of chemical weapons (by Saddam in the 80s), Iran condemns use of all WMD by anyone against anyone.”

But Ghasemi said that it was not yet clear who was responsible for the chemical attack on the Syrian province of Idlib that led to the American attack. He said accusations that the government of Bashar al-Assad had carried out the chemical attacks could not be proved. 

The response from Tehran is actually milder than expected. Over the last couple days, the Iranian media, like Russia, have maintained that the poison-gas incident in the town of Khan Shaykhun in Idlib happened after the Syrian air force attacked a warehouse controlled by Syrian rebels that contained chemical weapons. As of now the Iranian foreign ministry has avoided a direct confirmation of this claim.

But Aladdin Broujerdi, head of Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, was very clear about his beliefs. “In the past, terrorists have shown no hesitation in using chemical weapons,” he said, “and the claim that the Assad government has used chemical weapons is baseless. The Syrian government has no chemical weapons.”

Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani, a member of the Assembly of Experts, supported this view. “Terrorists have access to chemical weapons,” he said during a sermon at Tehran’s Friday Prayers. He accused the US of providing the terrorists with chemical weapons and called President Trump a “brazen liar.” He added that the world was going mad and prayed for the return of the Shia Messiah, the 12th Imam.

Some Iranian officials also accused the US of using the Khan Shaykhun tragedy as an excuse to take unilateral action. In another tweet, Foreign Minister Zarif wrote that in 2003 America used fabricated evidence about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction to invade that country and is now repeating the same thing in Syria. ”US aids Saddam's use of CW against Iran in 80s; then resorts to military force over bogus CW allegations: 1st in 2003 and now in Syria,” he posted. 

Representative Broujerdi said the attack also contradicted Trump’s promises during his election campaign. “Iran and Russia will not sit still in the face of these actions against the interests of the region,” he added, without specifying any action that Iran might take.

“In a sense, this attack carries a clear message to Iran,” said an article on the website Tabnak, which reflects the views of Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of the Expediency Council. “They want to let Iran know that if it does not let go of its policies in Syria similar actions could be repeated.” Quoting unnamed analysts, the website wrote: “If Iran and Russia do not respond appropriately to the American action, we must expect similar or even more forceful actions in Syria.”

The website expressed its approval of the suspension of cooperation between the US and Russia in Syria but did not refer specifically to any action that Iran is likely to take. But Zarif’s anger was clear. "Not even two decades after 9/11, US military fighting on same side as al-Qaida & ISIS in Yemen & Syria,” he posted on Twitter. “Time to stop hype and cover-ups.”