Iran, Syria condemn US attacks on Iran-linked facilities
Tehran says the US strikes hit civilian targets and violated international law and Syrian sovereignty.
Tehran, Iran – The governments of Iran and Syria have condemned the United States for attacks on Syrian soil that reportedly killed 19 people, which Washington says it carried out after a drone strike on US troops.
Late Saturday, both the Iranian and Syrian foreign ministries repelled US airstrikes targeting the strategic region of Deir ez-Zor, bordering Iraq.
In a statement, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said the “terrorist” attacks by the US hit civilian targets and violated international law and Syrian sovereignty.
“The US claims to be present in Syria to fight Daesh [ISIL] which itself played a major role in its creation is just an excuse to continue its occupation and plunder Syria’s national wealth, including its energy resources and wheat,” he said.
Kanani also said Iran only has military advisers on the ground in Syria at the request of its government, and rejected claims by the US and Israel that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has a significant military presence in Syria.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry has criticized the “brutal” attacks which it said killed several people and amounted to a violation of territorial integrity. It added that the attacks were a continuation of Israeli attacks and promised to “end the US occupation”.
The US said its raids against what it believed to be facilities affiliated with the IRGC were in response to a drone strike earlier this week that killed a US contractor in Syria. A war monitor said 19 people died in the US attacks.
Following the attacks, US President Joe Biden said the US “is not seeking conflict with Iran, but is willing to act vigorously to protect our people”.
Earlier on Saturday, Keyvan Khosravi, the spokesman for Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, had threatened an Iranian response if his positions were targeted.
“Any excuse to attack bases established on Syrian soil at the request of the Syrian government to fight terrorism and Daesh agents will be met with a reciprocal response without hesitation,” he told state media.
Pro-Iranian forces in Syria this week also warned of a further backlash amid tit-for-tat missiles and drone strikes.
The latest confrontation with the US comes as Tehran works to re-establish formal diplomatic ties with regional rival Saudi Arabia and possibly other Arab states.
Syria is reportedly set to restore relations with the kingdom after Tehran and Riyadh revised a Chinese-brokered deal earlier this month.