Tomorrow Iran Majlis delegation to visit Syria, Lebanon

An Iranian lawmaker says a parliamentary delegation will leave for Syria and Lebanon to discuss the latest developments with the officials of the two Arab countries.

The team of Iranian legislators will leave Tehran early Saturday, said Mansour Haqiqatpour who sits on the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Iran’s Majlis.

The delegation is headed by chairman of the committee Alaeddin Boroujerdi, and it also includes members of the Defense Subcommittee, the lawmaker added.

On Wednesday, spokesman for the committee Hossein Naqavi Hosseini said that the delegation will travel to Damascus under any circumstances, even if a military attack is launched against the crisis-hit Arab state.

Naqavi Hosseini stated that the mission aims to assess the situation in Syria, and to voice Tehran’s support for the Syrian government and nation following US war threats against the Arab country.

The war rhetoric against Syria intensified after foreign-backed opposition forces accused President Bashar al-Assad’s government of having launched a chemical attack on militant strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus last week.

However, Damascus has categorically rejected the claim, and announced that the chemical attack had actually been carried out by the militants themselves as a black operation.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Friday that Washington is still seeking an “international coalition” for a potential attack on Syria.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Syria that started in 2011.

The Western members of the UNSC have been pushing for a resolution on the use of force while Russia and China are strongly opposed to any attack on Syria.

Iran, among a number of other countries, has warned against the ramifications of a military strike against Syria, saying that the fallout from a military action would engulf the entire region.

Syria has been gripped by deadly unrest since 2011. According to the United Nations, more than 100,000 people have been killed and a total of 7.8 million displaced due to the violence.