‘West framing Syria to justify war’

A senior Iranian Majlis official says the US and Israel accuse Syria of using chemical weapons against militants in a bid to justify a possible military intervention in the country.

Hassan Sheikholeslam, international affairs advisor to Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani, said Saturday that the US-Israeli front knows it will achieve no results using a military option against Syria.

“Using the pretext that the Syrian government is using chemical weapons, they try to justify [possible] direct military intervention, which is the same policy pursued in Iraq.”

He said that the Syrian government should be ready for foreign military intervention because failure in Syria will cost the West dearly.

“They have staked their reputation and international commitments in order for the Assad government to fall.”

The settlement of divisions through peaceful means is a priority in the international arena and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad talks of dialog, but the West is pursuing war till the fall of the Syrian government, which indicates that they use all they have in power to achieve their objective, the Iranian lawmaker said.

The US, Israel and Britain accuse Syria of using chemical weapons against foreign-backed militants. This is while two Syrian officials on Friday denied allegations that the government has used chemical weapons against militants, saying Damascus has no need for them.

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

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