Iran slams Qatar for allowing puppet Syria opposition to open embassy

An Iranian deputy foreign minister has criticized the Qatari government for allowing the Syrian opposition to open an embassy in Doha.

“The intelligent and resistant people of Syria will never allow others to decide the future of this country,” deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on Friday.

The official said the measure, which he described as theatrics, did not have the backing of Syrians, and advised Qatari officials to avoid fueling violence in Syria with such hasty, illogical moves.

The comments come days after the so-called Syrian National Coalition received the green light from Doha to open its first embassy in the Qatari capital.

The mission was inaugurated while the original Syrian Embassy in Doha remains closed.

Qatar, along with Saudi Arabia and Turkey, have been widely viewed as the West’s main Mideast allies supporting foreign-backed militants who have been fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Many people, including large numbers of Syrian army and security personnel, have been killed since the violence erupted in Syria in March 2011.