President Hassan Rouhani described last week’s US strikes against Syria as “aggressive”, adding that the move further reveals Washington has direct ties with terrorists.
In a telephone talk with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Sunday, the president said, “The Americans showed such a reaction when they realized that the terrorists had been dislodged from an important region like Eastern Ghouta," Tasnim News Agency reported. Eastern Ghouta, an enclave in east of Syrian capital, has been the site of a Syrian Army offensive recently in a bid to clear the region of terrorist units, predominantly Jaysh al-Islam, a Salafist group, but also Al-Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly known as al-Nusra Front).
The offensive is now finished, and the region is being cleansed of ala the terrorists, the army says.
The strikes, conducted by the United States, France and Britain early on Saturday, hit Syrian government sites that US President Donald Trump claimed were “associated with chemical weapons capabilities.”
Rouhani told Putin that the joint military strikes against Syria were an "aggressive move" aimed at boosting the morale of the vanquished terrorists.
He warned that if aggression and blatant violation of international law were to become easy and cost-free, "we will 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 final encounter against terrorism in Syria and we must have closer consultations and cooperation with each other," the president told the Russian leader. Putin said the strikes conducted by the US and two western countries against Syria under any pretext were a blatant violation of international law.
He stressed that “if such actions committed in violation of the UN Charter continue, then it will inevitably lead to chaos in international relations.”
Putin noted 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.
