War on Syria will backfire on aggressors, Israel: Cleric

An Iranian cleric has warned against a potential US war on Syria, noting that any military intervention in the Arab country could backfire on the warmongers and the Israeli regime.

“The people and the Muslims [of the world] are alert; and in case of a war, it is not clear what fate would befall its instigators, including the Zionist regime (of Israel),” Tehran interim Friday Prayers Leader Ayatollah Mohammad Ali Movahhedi Kermani told worshippers in the Iranian capital.

The ayatollah said striking Syria is part of the enemy’s scheme against Islam, expressing hope that the White House would exercise prudence and back away from its war threats.

The possible US engagement in a war against Syria may presage a Soviet-style collapse for Washington, he warned.

The cleric criticized international bodies such as the UN Security Council for seeking to protect the interests of world powers and for lying about their advocacy for human rights.

He also denounced the Israeli regime as a tool for the colonial West to inflict “carnage and disaster” on the Muslim world.

The United States stepped up its war rhetoric against Syria after the militants operating inside the country and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed that over a thousand people had been killed in a government chemical attack on militant strongholds on the outskirts of Damascus on August 21.

The Syrian government has categorically rejected the allegation, describing the attack as a false-flag operation aimed to provoke foreign military intervention in Syria.