Iran support for Syria deterred US attack: Iranian Official

A senior Iranian official says Iran’s support for Syria has put the brakes on a US military action against the crisis-stricken Arab nation.

“The power of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the areas of security and politics, which extends to the Mediterranean coast, has prevented a US attack on Syria over the past two years,” Secretary of Iran Expediency Council Mohsen Rezaei said on Wednesday.

The war rhetoric against Syria gained momentum on August 21, when the militants operating inside the country and the foreign-backed Syria opposition claimed that over a thousand people had been killed in a government chemical attack on militant strongholds on the outskirts of Damascus.

Damascus has repeatedly said the deadly attack was a false-flag operation carried out by the Takfiri groups in a bid to draw in foreign military intervention.

Syria has been gripped by deadly turmoil since 2011.

According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and millions of others displaced in the violence.

Reports indicate that Western powers and their regional allies — especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey — are supporting the militants operating inside the country.