Israel committed folly by attacking Syria: Iran’s SNSC

Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Saeed Jalili says the Zionist regime of Israel committed an act of “folly” by attacking a research center in Syria.

“The attack exposes the aggressive nature of the [Israeli] regime and its threat to regional security and stability,” Jalili said in a meeting with Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi in Damascus on Saturday.

He pledged Iran’s full support for a political approach to resolve the Syrian unrest and expressed optimism regarding an end to the crisis in the Arab state and the failure of plots against Damascus.

The Syrian premier, for his part, said the Israeli aerial assault did not target the Syrian resistance but the resistance front and deterrence in the region.

Halqi praised Iran’s support for Syria in countering the current challenges in the crisis-stricken country.

On January 30, the Syrian Army said in a statement that two people were killed and five others injured in an Israeli airstrike on a scientific center in Jamraya, located 25 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of the capital Damascus.

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

The Syrian government has said that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and that a very large number of the militants operating in the country are foreign nationals.

Jalili and Halqi also stressed the importance of improving Tehran-Damascus ties and implementing bilateral agreements and discussed ways to expand cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, oil and gas, healthcare, agriculture and electricity.

Meanwhile, in a meeting with Syrian Minister of National Reconciliation Ali Haidar, Iran’s SNSC secretary said that acts of sabotage and terrorism in Syria would bear no fruit.

Jalili added that the commitment of all Syrian groups to a political approach would be the only way to restore security in the country.

Addressing reporters upon his arrival in Damascus, Jalili said the Muslim world would not allow any attack on Syria.

He urged the Muslim and Arab world to help Syria counter the Zionist enemy and resolve the woes of the people.

“Enemies claim to defend and support the Syrian nation on the one hand and continue to hatch plots against it on the other hand,” Jalili stated.