‘US military aid to Syria militants will up insecurity in Middle East’

An Iranian deputy foreign minister says remarks made by certain US official about increasing military aid to terrorist groups in Syria increase insecurity in the Arab country and the entire region.

“Remarks made by certain American officials about [sending] military aid to terrorists and irresponsible armed groups, increase insecurity in Syria and the region,” Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Abdollahian said on Saturday.

Amir-Abdollahian was reacting to accusations by American officials that the Syrian Army is using chemical weapons against militants.

The New York Times reported on June 13 that US President Barack Obama has decided to begin supplying the foreign-backed militants in Syria with small arms and ammunition. The assistance, coordinated by the CIA, could include antitank weapons, the paper said.

The Washington Post reported on June 12 that US Secretary of State John Kerry has vowed American “commitment” to aid foreign-backed militants in Syria following their “disastrous” recent defeats at the hands of the Syrian Army.

“We are determined to do everything that we can in order to help the opposition to be able to… save Syria, and that stands,” Kerry said.

“We have ascertained that the Syrian government has not used chemical weapons, but certain terrorists in Syria have chemical weapons,” Amir-Abdollahian noted.

The Iranian official stated that it is time for the US to stop its wrong approach to Syria, adding, “Such measures contradict the objectives of the international conference [on Syria] in Geneva.”

UN-Arab League Special Envoy on Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said on June 7 that the international conference to resolve the crisis in Syria might be held in July. The peace talks had originally been planned to be held in June.

“The goal of the conference will be to achieve a political solution to the conflict in Syria through a comprehensive agreement between the government of Syria and the Syrian opposition,” Brahimi said in a news conference after holding preparatory talks with delegations from the United Nations, the US, and Russia in Geneva, adding that another preparatory meeting would be held on June 25.