Iran slams silence on chemical weapons use in Syria

An Iranian deputy foreign minister has criticized the silence of international community following the use of chemical weapons by militants against the people of Syria.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir-Abdullahian slammed the silence of the international community and said, “Using chemical weapons against Syrian people and police is a very painful event.”

“As the biggest victim of chemical weapons, Iran strongly condemns using of these weapons by terrorists and extremists in Syria who act under the disguise of opposition,” Amir-Abdullahian added.

At least 25 people were killed and 86 others injured after militants fired missiles containing poisonous gas into Aleppo’s Khan al-Assal village on March 19. Women and children were among the victims.

The attack came after Syria’s opposition coalition, known as the Syrian National Coalition, chose a Syrian-born American citizen, Ghassan Hitto, as the prime minister of what they call an interim government.

The Syrian crisis began in mid-March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence, and several international human rights organizations say the foreign-sponsored militants have committed war crimes.

The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants fighting the Syrian government are foreign nationals.